


This Floating World

by lowermiddlechild



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Magic, Major Character Injury, Minor Character Death, Modern Fantasy AU, Monsters, Mythology References, Smut, Supernatural Elements, but for now it's mature, dream doctor au, everyone is in their 20's, minor character injury, sorry - Freeform, the rating might change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-05-26 16:10:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 53,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6246748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lowermiddlechild/pseuds/lowermiddlechild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a Dream Doctor isn't the easiest job Suga's ever had but after six years, he usually knows what to expect. That is until the day comes when he lands in a dream, ready to fight off nightmares, only to be shoved out of it a moment later. With one of his closest friends, Oikawa, avoiding him and his second closest friend, Kenma, avoiding his own problems, it looks like it'll be up Suga to figure out what exactly is going on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning

 A classic horror scene. Suga resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He took a second to take in the abandoned circus, tents ripped and yellowing, mysterious stains everywhere, and a dark and cloudy sky. The reality around him seemed skewed, like the entire scene was tilted and bathed in a dim grey light that seemed to come up from the ground rather than down from the sky. 

Step One was always the same: Find The Dreamer. 

Suga set off through the tents, eyes peeled for any sign of movement. Dreamers were usually easy to spot, surrounded by a soft yellow glow, but the dreamscape was shifting to block his line of vision, tents kept appearing to get in his way, and a fence blocked his path once he reached the edge of the circus. It was a bad sign and Suga knew it but he kept moving, putting his faith in his prior experience. He walked beside the fence with his body slightly tilted to give him a better view of the area around him while followed it’s twists and turns. Suga was aware that he was being herded towards the middle of the circus grounds and he didn’t try to fight it; the dreamer was most likely at the middle of the grounds too. Instead he carefully readied his sling shot, three extra acorns in his left hand, as he made his way along the fence. 

Suga could tell he was getting close when he looked back to find the rest of the fairground was gone, replaced by a sheer cliff face only about a foot away from his ankles. He was careful to avoid looking down into the pit, no need to try to deal with his fear of heights now, and turned back to face forward. The tents that had been in front of him before he’d turned around were gone, replaced by one large circus tent, red and white stripes fading and dingy and Suga had the distinct impression that this was the center of the dream. He took a breath and pushed his way through the tent flaps, stepping into an arena. The stands surrounding the center ring were filled with murmuring shadows who seemed to be focused on the scene in the middle of the tent. 

A young man stood in the center of the ring, his back to Suga, dressed in a ridiculous lion tamer outfit with his chest bare and a pair of baggy red pants with glimmering golden stripes that were only made brighter by the soft yellow glow surrounding him. He was trying to remain calm, whip raised, as a large lion circled him. Suga took a quick second to appreciate the dreamer’s well defined back muscles before he made his way down to the center of the ring. It wouldn’t do any good to stay at the top of the arena and shoot from there; the nue still had to be lured out. 

As soon as the young man caught sight of Suga he turned his head and called out to him. The lion looked up at Suga as well and bared its fangs as Suga tucked his sling shot into his belt so he could carefully climb into the ring. The lion was an ugly beast, old wounds littering it’s hide and red blood dried into the fur of it's chin and stuck in it’s matted mane. Eyes never leaving the lion, Suga walked slowly over to the dreamer and placed a hand on his shoulder. The young man’s entire body was shaking and Suga said in his most calming voice, “What are you most afraid of?”

The dreamer opened his mouth to reply but his answer was cut off as the lion lunged towards them and Suga shoved him to the ground. Using his own weight to push the dreamer down meant that Suga was now awkwardly on top of the young man’s bare chest and he watched as the young man blushed a bright red, which meant that not only was the dreamer terrified of what was going on around him but he was also incredibly embarrassed. This time Suga did roll his eyes as he pushed himself up and off of the dreamer, but when he reached for his sling shot his hand closed on empty air. 

Suga swung his head from side to side trying his best not to swear and saw that his sling shot had landed a few meters away. He turned back to the dreamer, hoping he would take a more active role in his own nightmare, but the man screamed and began to crawl towards the edge of the ring. Suga whipped his head around just in time to see the lion bunching up its muscles to leap again. Suga dived out of the way, landing hard on his shoulder and even further away from his sling shot, but closer to the whip dropped by the dreamer. He grabbed it, attempting to situate the odd weapon in his hand and ran back to the dreamer, grabbing his arm and half pulled him into a standing position, his shoulder screaming. 

“We have to fight it, okay?” 

The dreamer didn’t move just continued to stand, shaking, and Suga had to remind himself that this was the dreamer’s nightmare. He had every right to be out of his mind with fear, but Suga knew that there was a slim chance of them surviving if the dreamer didn’t snap out of it. He glanced back to the circling lion again and Suga was reminded that the nue hadn’t even shown his face yet. He turned back to the dreamer, 

“I know it’s hard and I know it’s scary but trust me, we can do this. Together. Like a team.” The man’s head came up at the word ‘team’ and he had a hopeful look in his eyes that made Suga smile. “I’ll be right beside you. Working together. Like teammates.” 

The dreamer took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. “I play on a team.”

Suga nodded reassuringly. 

“I can use the whip,” The dreamer said as he took it from Suga’s hand. Being weaponless wasn’t exactly the best option for Suga but then again, it’s not like he really knew how to use it anyway. 

Besides, the dreamer seemed to gain confidence when Suga didn’t question him; he turned towards the lion, settling into a more combat ready stance. Suga decided to trust the dreamer with the lion and instead focused himself on getting back to his sling shot. He wrenched his attention away from the dreamer, zeroing in on his sling shot, and as soon as he sensed the lion move, Suga took off towards his weapon. The distance seemed to double with every step he took and he ground his teeth, aware that the nightmare was messing with him. It was frustrating to be so out of breath and tired when he finally got to his sling shot while the nue hadn’t even materialized yet. 

Suga turned back around just in time to see the dreamer taking on the lion, whip raised high and a determined look on his face. He couldn’t help but feel proud: the dreamer didn’t look like he was going to be paralyzed by fear again anytime soon. The whip cracked and the lion let out a roar as it was struck across it’s muzzle. The dreamer advanced carefully, continuing to land blows on the lion, forcing it to back up against the wall of the arena. It was cowering and pressed against the wall when the dreamer raised the whip for a final blow. He paused, weapon in the air, before the whip slipped from his fingers and the dreamer let it fall as he moved slowly towards the lion, finally placing his hand on it’s muzzle. The lion closed its eyes and dissolved into sand. The murmuring in the stands grew louder. 

Suga cursed under his breath. 

The shadows forming the crowd begin to grow and come together and just as the dreamer turned back to Suga with a panicked look in his eyes, they moved together and materialized into a beast standing at least four meters high. Not the biggest Suga had ever seen, but certainly not small. 

Nue are generally composed of the same core group of animals, body parts switching occasionally, but this one seemed fairly standard. Tiger paws, serpent tail, monkey face, nothing new. Suga had seen a lot of them in his time working as a Dream Doctor. They were beasts that plagued the mind, causing nightmares while the dreamer was asleep and an untreatable illness while they were awake. 

The nue’s gaze took in the arena around it before it concentrated on the dreamer as he seemed properly terrified of the monster while Suga only looked tired. He loaded his slingshot and aimed at the nue, following it with his eye as it dived after the dreamer. Suga was a little distracted by how ridiculous the whole thing looked but when the nue stopped moving and opened its mouth to let out a blast of flames he focused again. The dreamer screamed at the sight of the flames and started running straight towards Suga. The nue turned and just as he let one of his acorns fly right into the creature’s mouth.

The nue swallowed on instinct and for a second it just looked confused. The dreamer had no idea that Suga had just saved both of their asses and ran straight into him causing the two of them to fall to the ground for a second time. Suga didn’t even try to get up; he laid flat on the arena floor even after the dreamer rolled off of him, managing to crush Suga’s hurt shoulder in the process. 

Meanwhile, the nue had begun to thrash, letting out increasingly dying roars in the process, and slowly turning black. Within the span of two minutes the nue had become a solid, black statue. Suga finally got up off of the ground and brushed himself off, waving and grinning at the incredibly confused dreamer before he closed his eyes and slowly counted down from seven. 

When Suga opened his eyes again, he was sitting in his living room with a pain in his left shoulder from the fight and a pain in his lower back from sitting up straight for so long. He looked at the clock on the left wall: 4:56am. _Great_. Suga got up with a quiet groan, careful not to wake Kenma, who was sleeping on the couch, and slumped off to his bed, dreading his shift the next morning. 

\---

Kenma woke up Suga by shaking his shoulder with one hand while he played a game on his phone with the other. Normally Suga would let him play, but this morning Kenma knew that he’d barely gotten two and a half hours of sleep so he went down willingly when Suga reached out and pulled him down onto the bed. Kenma cuddled up into Suga’s arms and kept playing his game while Suga dozed, keeping track of the time for the both of them. They had work at 9am, but Kenma knew he could let Suga sleep for a little longer before he had to get up and get ready.

Half an hour later Kenma wiggled his way out of Suga’s arms to tie his own shoulder length hair back and go make coffee in an attempt to wake Suga up for good. It was a proven tactic to get him up on nights after he’s been dream walking and Kenma had faith that it would work that morning too. The smell of fresh coffee didn’t disappoint and within a few minutes Kenma could hear the telltale shuffling noises that meant that Suga had dragged himself out of bed and into the kitchen just in time to start getting ready for work. It was a quiet morning, mostly because Suga was too tired to talk and Kenma was more concerned with his new game to try to start a conversation. It’s not until they’re both waiting at the bus stop outside of Suga’s apartment building that Suga was awake enough to nonchalantly ask, “Isn’t that couch getting uncomfortable?” 

Kenma wondered if it was worth it to even reply and after a moment he decided not to answer him, instead choosing to focus on the way the morning light hit Suga’s pale hair at just the right angle to make it seem like he was glowing. 

“You must be running out of clothes by now,” Suga tried again while staring pointedly at him. Kenma shrunk down a little bit and tried to avoid looking at his friend since college, but Suga had known him a bit too long for that to work. A hand was placed under Kenma’s chin and his head was gently lifted so Suga could look at him. Kenma met his eyes for a moment before he sighed and looked away. 

“My apartment is far away. It’s easier to just stay at your place on nights when we have the morning shift.” 

It was a lie and Suga knew it, but Kenma was banking on him being too tired to call him out on it. Ever since Hinata had moved out of their shared apartment Kenma had been spending more and more time at Suga’s. Hinata had assured him that he was moving out because of his job and that it wasn’t anything personal, but the apartment still felt so empty without Hinata talking to him from the kitchen or shouting at the television while Kenma annihilated him in Super Smash Brothers. 

Sleeping at Suga’s was easier even if he was running out of clean sets of clothes. The bus stopped a block away from the Karasuno, effectively stopping Kenma from thinking about Hinata, and Suga led the way to work, the two of them getting to the coffee shop just in time to put on their aprons and clock-in. 

Suga had been working at the Karasuno Coffee Shop for nearly three years when he’d gotten Kenma a job there and while Kenma was grateful for the job, he’d always wished that the coffee shop was a little less popular. There was always a rush during the first couple of hours of their shift, but once the lines calmed down, Suga slumped onto the counter, arms pushed out in front of him, and groaned about how tired he was. 

“Why did you agree to take Oikawa’s night last night after you told Kunimi you’d take his morning shift today?” Kenma asked, eyes not leaving the PSP he had hidden behind the espresso machine. 

“I need the extra money from Kunimi’s shift,” Suga paused, rubbing his sore shoulder, and Kenma patiently waited for the second half, “and it feels like Tooru’s been drifting away from me recently. I don’t like it.” 

There wasn’t much Kenma could say about that; they could both feel it happening. Kenma looked away from Suga and down at his game. He’d felt Oikawa avoiding him, but it was more of him drifting away from Suga than from Kenma; he’d only met Oikawa and Iwazumi in college anyway. He knew that Suga had been friends with them for longer, had more history with the two of them than Kenma did. He wouldn’t even know them if he hadn’t been randomly assigned as Suga’s roommate and dragged into their dream problems. Kenma shut down that train of thought; he knew where it would lead and thinking about what happened in college was sure to bring him down for the rest of the day. 

Fortunately, Suga didn’t bring up Oikawa’s recent drifting or Kenma staying over again and the next few hours of their shift went by somewhat peacefully. It wasn’t until Ennoshita failed mention the game console poorly hidden beside the espresso machine that Kenma began to think that maybe his day was going a little too well. The bell attached to the door jingled and Kenma’s eyes flicked over to the man walking inside as he took his coat off and hung it on the rack, revealing the police uniform underneath. So much for a peaceful day at work. Movement to his left caused Kenma to turn and he noticed Suga’s attempt to duck into the back, but his route was blocked off by Ennoshita. 

“Officer Iwaizumi! What’ll you have today?” Ennoshita called from the doorway to the kitchen, arms on his waist to fill the doorway and keep Suga from escaping. Suga was still trying his best to slip past him while Kenma attempted to melt into the floor right where he’s standing, but their manager was having none of it. Ennoshita linked his arm through Suga’s and led him over to the cash register with a reminder to smile. He then turned to make eye contact with Kenma before sending a meaningful look towards his hidden PSP. Kenma knew his day had been too good to last. 

“Hey, Suga.” Iwaizumi was trying to be friendly, but Kenma recognized the look on Suga’s face. It was his business smile and Iwaizumi knew it as well. He sighed and placed his order before getting to the real reason he was there. 

“Look, I know you took his night last night but he’s actually sick this week, I swear.” Iwaizumi wasn’t really the type to let Oikawa pull one over Suga, but Oikawa had his own ways of getting Iwaizumi to do what he wants and in this case it’s becoming painfully clear that he wanted Iwaizumi to ask Suga to take Oikawa’s night again. It was a tough situation for Suga to be in; sending Iwaizumi to deliver his message made it incredibly obvious that Oikawa was avoiding him, but Suga couldn’t seem to decide if taking his night would actually help their friendship. 

“I… Yeah, okay I can take it,” Suga said eventually, his voice smoothing out after his first false start. Kenma watched the way Suga hid his conflicting emotions behind a pleasant smile like only someone who’s seen both the best and the worst of Suga can, and privately he thought that Oikawa was a bit too dependent on his friend’s good nature. Iwaizumi seemed to feel the same way. 

“Thanks, Suga. He really owes you one,” Iwaizumi said apologetically, one hand reaching up to run through his short hair before he added, “I’ll try talking to him again, okay?” 

Suga nodded his head, fake smile still in place and Iwaizumi accepted it, taking his coffee and leaving the Karasuno. 

\---

“You know, it was Tooru that thought up the name Dream Doctors,” Suga said as he and Kenma set up what he needed to dream walk that night. Suga could see the way Kenma’s eye twitched as he resisted the urge to get up and leave the room. After all, he’d been there when they’d first come up with the name, and Suga knew it, but it would help him feel better to talk about it and he was grateful that Kenma didn’t say anything. “He was so excited. We just wanted to help people…” Suga’s voice trailed off as he finished the setup. 

It was no where near as elaborate as the original spell was, but he already had the ability to dream walk; this was just a boost to get him into the Dreamworld. Suga plopped down onto the floor and leaned back against the couch with his sling shot in one hand, bag of shots already tied onto his belt loop. Kenma was settled onto the other side of the couch and Suga knew that they were going to have to have a serious talk about Kenma’s living situation but well, Suga kind of liked having someone else cook every now and again and he knew Kenma didn’t want to go back to his own apartment. 

Besides, first he needed to get through his fourth night of dream walking in row. The problem was that when Suga was dream walking he wasn’t sleeping or resting in any way so it felt like this was the fourth night in a row that he’d had to stay up into the early morning and work the next day. It was taking a toll on his body and Suga had felt himself falling asleep more than once during his shift at the coffee shop that day in addition to the fact that his shoulder had been killing him the entire day. 

The things he did for Tooru. 

Suga closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, trying to push away his tiredness and all of the thoughts intent on distracting him. He could hear Kenma’s thumbs working his game, the ticking of the clock on the opposite wall, and the constant noise from the heater over the door as he breathed but slowly, the soft sounds of his apartment began to fade, and when Suga opened his eyes again he was standing in the middle of someone’s backyard. 

He could immediately tell that it was a peaceful dream; there was no feeling of impending dread pulling on him as he looked around and he spotted the dreamer a little way away, happily weaving a daisy chain. Suga smiled a little before he set off at a jog, moving away from the dreamer and towards a small hole in the ground nearby that widened as he approached. He didn’t hesitate to jump into the hole and in a second he can feel air moving around him, buffing his hair as he dropped into another dream. 

It felt like a child’s dream. The world around Suga was sugary sweet and when he turned around he saw the dreamer ride by on the back of a purple pony. The little boy looked happy and waved wildly to Suga and he smiled and waved back before he slipped into another dream. 

The third time’s the charm and this time, as soon as Suga opened his eyes, he could tell he was in the right dream, though something about the scene around him felt off. There was a storm cloud in the distance that looked like it was probably the nue but other than that the dream was incredibly empty. He was standing in a field of short, brown grass and when he turned around in a slow circle Suga couldn’t see any other features in the landscape save for the dreamer standing with his back to him. Suga took a second to gawk at what was undoubtedly one of the best asses that he’s ever seen. He took in the view for a solid half a minute before his eyes moved up a strong back and neck to a head of dark, close cropped hair. After a minute the dreamer could tell that someone was watching him and spun around, a naked sword in his hand. His eyes widened when they met Suga’s and the dreamer smirked a bit before he gave Suga a once over. Suga briefly wondered if maybe this could turn into a sex dream once the nue was defeated.

Suga held back a sigh and tried to remember the last time he had even seen himself naked, much less someone else. Suffice to say, it had been a long time since he’d had time for sex.

Suga sent one of his most winning smiles and a cheery wave towards the dreamer, but instead of smiling back, the dreamer looked distressed and said something Suga had never heard in a dream before. 

“What’re you doing here? You’re not supposed to be here.” 

Suga blinked at the dreamer, frozen in surprise while the dreamer strode over to him, sword still in hand. “I set this up perfectly. You’re going to get in the way and get yourself killed.” 

“Relax, I’m here for a reason. I’m here to help,” Suga said soothingly after he’d recovered from his shock, but the dreamer didn’t look convinced. Suga was just about to try again when the nue’s screech filled the air and the dreamer turned and looked directly at the cloud turning into a monster. 

Suga’s instinct was to comfort the dreamer facing his worst nightmare, but Suga realized too late that he didn’t seem scared at all. Suga put a hand on his shoulder and the dreamer spun around and grabbed onto Suga’s wrist, holding him in place as he shoved one of his hands into Suga’s chest with enough force to leave a bruise. In an instant the dream rushed away from Suga and a pounding began in his skull. He closed his eyes tightly against the pain, completely at the mercy of the throbbing in his head, but after a moment it lessened, allowing him to crack his eyes open again.

Suga found himself back in his living room, with an incredibly painful migraine and Kenma staring at him. The clock on the wall told him it wasn’t even midnight. 

“What the hell just happened?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hi hello im back with another long fic! i currently have chapters 1-5 written and im planning to do some weekly updates until i catch up to myself and then things might slow down. for now, enjoy and


	2. In Which Things Are Not Great

“It’s like every hangover I’ve ever had shoved into one,” Suga moaned. He’d woken up with some pretty bad injuries from dream walking but he’d never felt like this before. The headache from the night before had settled directly behind his eyes and he felt exhausted despite the fact that he’d had gotten nearly seven hours of sleep that night, which was more than he’d gotten in a long time. The vibrations of the bus on his way to work were only making the migraine worse as Suga leaned his head against the window. Kenma kept glancing at him, concern in his eyes, but Suga couldn’t do more than try to smile reassuringly back. It wasn’t his most convincing smile. 

The morning rush at the Karasuno was even worse than usual and Suga found himself feeling nauseous about an hour into his shift. He made a hasty excuse to Ennoshita before running into the staff bathroom just in time to vomit directly into the toilet bowl. Kenma found him on the cold tile floor of the bathroom a few minutes later and wordlessly he handed Suga his cellphone, Iwaizumi already on the line. 

“I need to talk to your asshole of a boyfriend,” Suga said, attempting to sound like he meant business, but another wave of pain erupted from his forehead and the end of his sentence came out more like a plea than a demand. He heard Iwaizumi sigh on the other end of the line and was a little insulted. He was nowhere near as dramatic as Tooru; Iwaizumi should be grateful. 

“What’s wrong?” Iwaizumi asked patiently. 

“I think I’m dying,” Suga answered seriously. He could practically feel Iwaizumi rolling his eyes. Okay, so maybe he was being a little melodramatic, but something like this had never happened to him before and the smell of vomit in the tiny bathroom had soured any shred of a positive attitude that he had left. “I have an awful migraine and I think it’s because I got literally shoved out of a dream last night.” 

Iwaizumi was used to dealing with people exaggerating their stories thanks to his years with Tooru, and Suga was entirely ready to have to argue or bribe Iwaizumi into helping him, but as soon as Suga mentioned his dream walking the night before, Iwaizumi’s voice became a little more solemn. 

“Shit, Suga, shoved? I’ll… yeah, I’ll get him to talk to you. Do you want to come here?” Suga spent a brief minute considering whether or not he could make it all the way to Tooru’s apartment and was about to tell Iwaizumi that he could, but Kenma reached over and plucked the phone from his hands. 

“Um, actually, could you guys pick him up? I don’t think Ennoshita will let both of us off and he looks like he would pass out on the bus,” Kenma answered for him. Iwaizumi agreed quickly and told them he’d be there in fifteen minutes. Kenma hung up and slipped his phone back into the pocket of his apron before he left the bathroom and went to find Ennoshita. As soon as their manager saw Suga on the ground in the staff bathroom looking more green than anything else, he agreed to let him go home. Suga dug around in his bag to find his phone, planning to get Kindaichi to come in and cover for him when Ennoshita shook his head and told him not to worry about it. 

“Just focus on getting better. You’re scheduled to work a double on both Friday and Saturday.” 

Ten minutes later Suga sat in Iwaizumi’s truck, a trash bag in his hands just in case. He could feel his nerves building up and the migraine wasn’t making him feel any better. He wasn’t even sure what Tooru would say to him. Would he act like nothing had happened between them? Suga hadn’t talked to him in so long, especially once he realized that the other man was definitely avoiding him, and he had no idea how this meeting was going to go. Iwaizumi hadn’t really said anything about it but he didn’t look quite as confident as Suga would have liked. 

“So, what’s he been up to?” Suga asked looking out the car window, trying to seem casual. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Iwaizumi shrug. 

“Same old, same old I guess.” 

“Really? Nothing new?” Suga pressed. He turned to look at Iwaizumi and was met with a quick glare before Iwaizumi focused back on the road. 

“If this is about the way he’s been acting lately-” Iwaizumi started, his tone stern, but Suga quickly cut him off. 

“It’s not, it’s not! I just haven’t really talked to him in a while.” Suga looked down at his lap. Tooru had been one of his best friends and now he was reduced to asking Iwaizumi for news. He continued softly, “I just want to know how he’s doing.” 

“Oh.” 

“How’re things with his dad?” 

Iwaizumi sighed. “He still doesn’t know about us.” Suga winced. 

“Do you think he’ll ever…” Suga didn’t want to finish the sentence and one look at the stony expression on Iwaizumi’s face had him backtracking, grateful that Tooru only lived fifteen minutes away from the Karasuno. “Ah, sorry, never mind.” 

Once they parked, Iwaizumi helped Suga get inside of Tooru’s apartment, letting himself in without a second thought, and called out to his boyfriend. Suga leaned heavily on his friend, doing his best not to wrinkle Iwaizumi’s uniform too much, and let himself be guided into Tooru’s modern looking living room. He wondered if he’d be forgiven if he hurled on their sofa. Tooru had been incredibly excited about decorating the apartment and as a result the entire space was decorated in modern white furniture. Suga had always wondered how Iwaizumi felt about the decorations in the apartment but he’d never really asked him about it. 

As for himself, Suga had always hated this apartment. For starters, it was too far away from his apartment; he missed when they lived next door to each other in the dorms. Oikawa had always had good taste and his apartment reflected that but to Suga it just felt so impersonal and cold compared to his own apartment full of random furniture he’d managed to get for free, knitted blankets, and pillows people had given him over the years. _Homey_ , he liked to call it. _Cluttered_ , Oikawa had always countered with a small smirk. 

Iwaizumi helped him over to the couch and Suga slumped down into it, trying his best to ignore the pressure of his blood pulsing through his brain. It took Oikawa another five minutes to come out to the living room and those five minutes were torture for Suga. They stretched on and on and he was just debating whether or not he would throw up some aspirin when Oikawa breezed into the room and sat in the armchair next to Suga’s head. 

“You look nice,” Oikawa said with a small smirk. 

“Yeah, I’m a regular pageant queen,” Suga snapped back, albeit weakly. It only took him a few minutes to explain what had happened when he’d been pushed out of his dream walking, only stopping for a second to gulp down some pills Iwaizumi brought back for him. 

Oikawa sat back once Suga finished talking and placed his hands in his lap. “I’ve never had something like that happen to me. You said he felt like a lucid dreamer?” 

“Yeah, he did but he didn’t respond the way they normally do. You know how normal lucid dreamers are pretty easy to convince that you’re meant to be there? This guy immediately knew I wasn’t supposed to be there and I couldn’t change his mind.” 

“And you said the dreamscape was weird too?” Oikawa prompted. 

Suga tried to nod but ended up closing his eyes against the pain instead. “His entire dream was just an open field. Not even tall grass just short cut grass, a stormy sky-“

“And a hot dreamer,” Oikawa interrupted. 

“One of the best asses I’ve ever seen,” Suga agreed. 

Oikawa nodded seriously and thought for a moment before he turned back to Suga. “Okay, here’s what I think we should do: you go home and get Kenma to try to look into it, he always manages to find something, and I’ll go see Nekomata and try to get some information out of him. He’s been in the business a lot longer than we have. He’s sure to know something.” 

“Sure but we’ve been in the business a long time too, I thought we knew almost everything,” Suga muttered to the ceiling, one arm thrown over his eyes. 

\---

Suga didn’t hear from Oikawa again until nearly two days later. Apparently visiting Nekomata had paid off though he should have known that the old man wouldn’t give them a straight answer. Nekomata had sent over a massive pile of research for the two of them to go through and Suga groaned at the thought of how many hours it would take for him to sort out what was actually useful. Oikawa had been given five thick books to read as well and it was with a pleading look in his eye that Suga turned to the one person he could think of to help. 

“Kenma, please. I’ll cook you dinner tonight!” 

“It’s your turn anyway,” Kenma mumbled as he tried to bury himself in the oversized sweat shirt that he’d stolen from Suga a while back. He’d seen it coming; Kenma had helped Suga and Oikawa with the original dream research after all, but this time he’d been avoiding agreeing to help them. His problem was that dream research wasn’t like ordinary research; it always left Kenma feeling frustrated. He’d find a path of information that looked promising and would spend hours that could otherwise be spent playing the new Fire Emblem game looking through dozens of documents and myths only to end up at a dead end. The worst part was that he knew that there were materials that could fill in the gaps in knowledge but for some reason he was never able to get ahold of the missing links. 

The truth was, Kenma wanted to say no. He wanted to skip all of the frustration and get on with the normal part of the life he’d built up for himself after graduating college. He wanted to skip waking up to injuries and seeing Suga’s eyes cloud over in pain. He wanted to go home and make Suga cook him dinner, for the two of them to not think about dreams for the rest of their lives. 

He wanted to, but Suga was still looking at him expectantly and Kenma took in the bags under his eyes, the way he favored his right shoulder, and the hope in his eyes and all at once he knew his life wouldn’t be normal any time soon. 

“Okay, I can take a look at them, but I want dinner and dessert tonight,” Kenma grumbled, hating the way his heart squeezed a little at the smile that lit Suga’s face. 

As soon as his shift ended, Kenma bid Suga a quick farewell, promising to be back in time for dinner as he pulled out his phone to call Hinata. He didn’t want to go back to Suga’s alone and well, his own apartment was even worse. Hinata answered on the second ring and within twenty minutes Kenma was ringing the buzzer to his friend’s new apartment, waiting to be let in. Hinata threw open the door and in seconds Kenma was lifted off of his feet in a tight hug. 

“Kenma! I was so excited when you called! Today’s my day off so we have the whole afternoon to hang out. Plus, Kageyama isn’t home so we don’t have to deal with his stupid, brooding face,” Hinata said excitedly before he deposited Kenma back onto solid ground and proceeded to pull him into the apartment calling over his shoulder, “When do you have to be home? Are you still staying in the old apartment? Isn’t it too big for just you? Did you get a new roommate?” 

“I’m sort of staying with Suga,” Kenma mumbled, allowing himself to be dragged into the apartment and avoiding Hinata’s searching gaze. 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Hinata asked carefully. Kenma only shrugged. Hinata took the hint and moved the two them through the apartment and into the living where he’d set up a Wii. Kenma was grateful for the distraction and the simple fact that his friend hadn’t pushed him into what would definitely have been an awkward conversation. He let himself get lost in the game Hinata had picked out, one of the newer Mario games, and for the next couple of hours the only sounds came from the TV or Hinata as he managed to lose most of his lives from falling off of the cliffs in the level. They didn’t stop playing until Kenma noticed that Hinata had traded in his shouts for yawns. He quietly saved the game and went over to the cabinet where Hinata kept his movies, picked one at random and popped it into the DVD player before heading back to sit with Hinata on the couch. 

“I always forget how well you see things,” Hinata said with a yawn. Kenma stayed quiet, just leaned into Hinata’s side. He wanted to ask Hinata about his new job, whether it was worth moving out or not, but he couldn’t quite manage to find the right words. Hinata looked like he was close to falling asleep but Kenma hadn’t seen him in a while and he didn’t want their afternoon to be over already so he turned his face up towards Hinata’s as he asked him to tell him about what’d been going on in his life. 

It was the closest he could get to out right asking about the new job and Hinata seemed grateful. For once he was calm as he sleepily told Kenma about his strict new boss, his partner Kageyama, and the way he was learning a lot but the entire time Kenma could hear an underlying edge to Hinata’s voice. After a while Kenma offhandedly mentioned it. 

He could feel Hinata’s shoulder shrug underneath him as he said, “Just haven’t been getting a lot of sleep. They work us to the bone.” Normally he’d leave it there but Kenma had been in the dream business too long to believe him. 

“There’s more to it than that, isn’t there?” He wanted to sound demanding, like he deserved an answer, but instead it just came out sounding awkward. 

“I just, I keep having these crazy dreams. It’s not really a big deal! Just makes it hard to sleep sometimes, ya know?” Hinata sounded sincere and Kenma believed him but he still seemed like he was hiding something. Kenma couldn’t help but wonder if Hinata would be more open to talking about it if he knew about the dream doctors or Kenma’s second unofficial job as a researcher. He opened his mouth to ask if Hinata had ever had a lucid dream but a soft snore interrupted him and Kenma sat up from his place on the couch, turning to see that Hinata had fallen asleep. 

He sighed and laid a blanket over top of his friend before grabbing his bag and heading back to Suga’s. 

\---

“Pack some extra bullets tonight, okay?” Iwaizumi said as he watched Oikawa set up everything he needed to go into the dream world, precision in every movement despite his shaking hands. He knew that Oikawa probably shouldn’t have been going dream walking with the amount of sleep he’d had, but with Suga out of commission there wasn’t much he could do to change Oikawa’s mind. He gave it a chance anyway, hoping he could get through to his boyfriend even though all signs pointed to failure. 

“Maybe you could take tonight off. I can’t go in and haul your dumb ass out of the fire and Suga isn’t in any condition to do it either,” Iwaizumi tried. 

Oikawa flashed a peace sign at him, smile in place, as he said, “Aw, Iwa-chan are you worried about me? Don’t worry! Your big, strong boyfriend can take care of himself and you for that matter.” 

Iwaizumi stomped over to him and gripped his head between his hands, squeezing just enough to make himself clear when he said, “I’m serious asshole! Quit it with that fake smile. You’re a mess right now and avoiding Suga has just been making it worse and you know it. If you’re not going to tell him what’s been going on then at least take the night off tonight. The world will be okay without you for one night.” 

Oikawa’s eyes turn serious and his expression hardened. “What if I had taken a day off that day? Just hadn’t gone dream walking?” 

“That’s, that’s not… I’d have been…” Iwaizumi knew he would bring it up, but he didn’t have a response. It’d been years since then, but he still couldn’t think of a way to answer. 

“You’d have been killed,” Oikawa answered for him before he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to Iwaizumi’s forehead. “Don’t worry about me, Iwa-chan. I can handle this.” 

“I just wish you didn’t have to,” Iwaizumi replied softly. 

\---

Suga didn’t even notice him at first, just called out a casual greeting without looking up from the calculations he’d been writing on a napkin. Rent was due next week and with all of the days he’d had to take off at the coffee shop this month he was wondering what he could cut out of his life to make sure he could afford to keep his apartment. The obvious answer was the cable, but Suga couldn’t quite bring himself to give up his and Kenma’s nights spent cuddled up on the couch watching reality competition show marathons. 

After a minute Suga realized that the customer had never come up to the register and he lifted his head, bright customer service smile at the ready as he looked at the man. Dark eyes drilled into his own and Suga was so startled that he let out a gasp and dropped the pen he’d been writing with. 

The dreamer who’d kicked him out of his dream walking, complete with tan skin, broad shoulders, dark hair and equally dark eyes, stood in front of him looking frankly a little bit terrifying with a stern, no nonsense expression on his face. Suga willed himself to not take a step back, but Ennoshita came out from the back at that exact moment and leaned against the doorway. 

“Cat got your tongue, Suga?” he asked pointedly. 

“Ah, no…” Suga cleared his throat before turning back to the customer and pulling his smile back onto his face as he shoved down the fear that had risen in his throat. “Can I help you, sir?” 

He wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t for the other man’s face to fall a bit into a more natural position before it settled into something that more closely resembled a small smile. The back of his hand came up to scratch the back of his neck and his smile became a little bit more bashful. Suga felt his heart skip a beat. 

_Oh good, the guy that caused me one of the worst days of my life is incredibly hot._

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was uh, just thinking about something else. You look kind of like someone I know.” 

Suga smiled sweetly at the man, “Yeah, same.” 

Ennoshita rolled his eyes and muttered something about proper speech before he disappeared back into the kitchen to finish the next batch of pastries. 

The dreamer watched him go for a moment before his eyes slid back to Suga, assessing him. Suga bit his lip, did his best to ignore the excited goose bumps on his skin, and decided that a direct approach was probably his best option. 

“So I see you managed to defeat that nue without me,” he announced, trying to sound casual, like he was a man that had his life together, all while managing to maintain his polite smile. 

“So you do remember it,” the dreamer said, his smile slipping into a more serious expression. He looked so intense that Suga couldn’t help but crack a smile; he decided then and there that he wanted to see the dreamer loosen up a bit. 

“I always remember when I’m in a handsome man’s dreams,” he teased with a wink. 

That one comment changed the dreamer’s expression drastically. His face turned bright red as a blush covered his cheeks and the tips of his ears and his mouth dropped open in surprise. It was incredibly endearing and Suga couldn’t help but show a more genuine smile at how flustered he’d gotten. 

“So solider, what can I get you?” Suga was laying it on thick but the way the dreamer sputtered as he tried to form a real sentence as an answer was amazing and Suga took a moment to look the other man up and down. Broad shoulders, thick arms, strong jaw, he was everything Suga thought about late at night. After a moment though his attention was brought back up to the dreamers face as the other man cleared his throat and said, 

“I’d like an explanation. Also a medium coffee, a little cream, no sugar.” Suga grabbed a cup and held his pen over it, hovering while he thought of how to respond. 

“Alright, let’s get coffee.” 

The dreamer blinked in surprise, eyebrows raised a bit, as he asked, “Coffee? Like right now?” 

Suga shook his head, “No, I mean later. Like at a different coffee shop. Just you and me.” He flashed the dreamer his most charming smile and watched as the man’s eyebrows furrowed and his expression became even more confused. 

“Are you asking me on a date?” 

“Um,” Suga bit his lips, momentarily afraid that he’d made a mistake. “Yes?” 

He felt immediately better when the other man’s face fell into a smirk and he gave Suga a once over before he agreed. 

“Okay, we can get coffee, but I want a full explanation once we’re there, got it?” 

Suga nodded and felt his smile grow a bit wider. He held his pen above the coffee cup with the dreamer’s order written on it and asked, “Can I get a name for my date then?” 

“Sawamura Daichi.” 

“Well, then Daichi, feel free to call me any time and to add me as ‘the man of your dreams’,” Suga suggested cheekily as he wrote Daichi’s name on the cup with his phone number beneath it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what even are time zones? 
> 
> bicyclestandard.tumblr.com


	3. In Which Some Things Are Revealed

Coming straight from the Karasuno had Suga worried about being underdressed and once he saw Daichi standing in front the coffee shop in a button down and khakis, fresh and clean and not covered in flour like Suga was, his nerves doubled. His only consolation was the possibility that Daichi had dressed up like that for him. Sure it was unlikely, but a guy can always dream. 

“Not a date, eh? You’re pretty well dressed for just hanging out,” Suga teased as he sauntered up to Daichi, a smirk on his face. 

“For all you know I always dress like this,” Daichi pointed out with a smile. Suga pouted a little and Daichi sighed and continued, “But I don’t.” 

Suga’s mega watt smile was back and Daichi swallowed hard before he led the way into the coffee shop. One caramel latte and a medium coffee, cream but no sugar, and Suga tried to walk over to a table near the back of the shop before Daichi steered him closer to the windows at the front. 

“Aren’t you worried about people, ya know,” Suga waved his arm above his head, “listening in?” 

Daichi chuckled. “It’s better if there are more people around and talking. Makes your conversation seem more normal. Smiling helps too.” 

“You just like my smile, don’t lie,” Suga said with a grin. 

“That too I guess,” Daichi said with a shrug. Suga felt a blush creep up his cheeks and took a sip of his drink to try to hide the evidence of how much someone like Daichi flirting with him was affecting him. It wasn’t really an everyday event for him and the more time he spent with Daichi the more attractive he found him. The man had a sense of humor too and Suga was starting to have daydreams about his biceps. Normal everyday Suga stuff. 

“So what do you want to know?” Suga asked as he set down his drink, following with his eyes before looking back up at his not-a-date. He figured that the best way to get Daichi into bed would be to be cooperative and it wasn’t like he had to tell him everything he knew. 

“How did you get into my dream? I’ve been practicing mental blocks for years off for a reason; nobody should have been able to get in.” 

“Mental blocks?” Suga questioned. 

“I’ve dealt with a lot of people that happen to like to break into private dreams. You experience enough of those and you get someone to teach you how to make it stop,” Daichi said flatly. 

“Who taught you?” Suga leaned forward in his seat, wondering just how many people could keep others out of their dreams. 

“A friend of mine, Takeda. He’s a retired samur-” Daichi cut himself off and Suga’s eyes widened. 

“A retired what? Samur- samurai? What does that mean?” Daichi sat across from Suga, looking very much like he’d let slip something he probably shouldn’t have, and his fidgeting and the way he refused to meet Suga’s eyes screamed discomfort but Suga felt like he was too close to give up. Something about Daichi made him want to push forward. He turned on his most reassuring voice and tried to look trustworthy as he said, “Daichi please, tell me. I think, well, I think we can help each other.” 

“Curiosity killed the cat, Suga.” 

“And satisfaction brought it back.” 

“It’s not really something I’m supposed to be spreading around,” Daichi said with the look of a man about to give in. Suga held his breath. “You can’t tell a soul and you have to be completely honest with me. Deal?” 

Without a second thought Suga held out his fist, pinky up. “Let’s pinky swear.”

Daichi rolled his eyes and held out his hand, “Give me your left hand.” Suga placed his hand in Daichi’s palm, felt the rough calluses, and managed to push down thoughts of what those hands would feel like running up his sides. One promise and Daichi would tell him everything he wanted to know. “Suga, do you swear?” 

“Of course,” he answered confidently and a moment later a cold sensation swept into his veins and up to his heart. It only lasted a moment but Suga blinked and looked at Daichi sitting across from him, looking determined. “What the hell was that?” 

“An honesty spell. You won’t be able to lie to me,” Daichi said and Suga’s eyes widened.

“A spell? Wait, I didn’t know that was what you meant by promising to be completely honest. I’ll never be able to lie again? This wasn’t what I was promising,” Suga exclaimed, a little too loudly. He slapped a hand over his mouth and glanced around the coffee shop to make no one was paying them any attention before he turned back to Daichi. 

Daichi’s face mirrored his shock. “No! No, it only lasts for 12 hours and it’s only with me.” 

Suga relaxed a little bit, still shocked, but relieved to know he’d be back to normal by the next day. “Okay good. That means I just have to get through the next twelve hours without telling you that I’ve been sneaking looks at your ass the entire time we’ve been here.” For a second Suga didn’t realize what he’d said but once his words registered he turned bright red and covered his face with his hands, muttered curses muffled in the fabric of his sweater.

“Like I wouldn’t notice,” Daichi replied with a smirk and Suga’s blush doubled. “Okay, so here’s the big thing: I’m a samurai.” 

For a second Suga said nothing, then, “So like you own a sword and swing it around sometimes or what?” 

Daichi rolled his eyes, “No it’s like a magical beast hunter. The organization hunts down dangerous magical creatures in order to keep people safe.” 

“So you were hunting the nue?” When Daichi nodded Suga continued, “Wait, organization? Like there’s more of you? Why are you called samurai? Does that mean what you did earlier was magic? Like real magic? Where were your herbs and symbols? How did you just shove it into me?”

“Slow down, okay? Yes, I was hunting the nue. Yes, there are more of us, and yes, that was magic. Not a lot though. I’m not really talented when it comes to charms like that,” Daichi said with a shrug. 

“That’s hot,” Suga commented immediately. 

“Thanks.” Daichi looked like he was trying not to laugh and Suga felt like melting into the floor. He wasn’t sure what to ask next: should he go with the obvious question about Daichi’s weird magic or about the name ‘samurai’? Before he could decide, Daichi beat him to the punch. “So how did you get into my dream?” 

“Magic but a different kind, I guess. I use herbs and rituals and spoken spells. I’m not really sure how you can do magic without all of the prep steps. It’s kind of really bothering me actually.” He and Oikawa had never even considered the possibility of any other kind of magic than the kind they’d researched when making the original dream walking trip. Their kind of magic had real ingredients and real steps, Daichi’s magic was completely without any of those types of controls and Suga found himself asking the questions as soon as it entered his mind, “How does your magic work? How does it stay controlled? Where does it come from?” 

Daichi looked down at the floor and his eyebrows furrowed and he looked like he was trying to remember whatever his answer was going to be. “I only really know the basics that they teach everyone but essentially it comes from within us? Some people are especially good at healing but almost everyone can do the baseline stuff like I did to you as long as they have the right training.” 

“I want to know more about your magic. It’s completely different from what we use.” It was the first time Suga had ever encountered a different kind of magic from what he used and Suga could feel himself becoming more and more interested in this man. Suga looked down at his hands for a second before he looked back up to meet Daichi’s eyes. “I want to be able to do what you could. How did you push me out of your dream?” 

Daichi sighed. “I wasn’t thinking and I just forced my magic into you to force you out of the dream.” 

“Why would you do that? I could have helped you,” Suga asked, his voice beginning to waver as he became upset. “I was sick for days after that; it was the worst I’d ever felt and you didn’t even really need to do it.” 

“Look I thought you would just get in the way, alright? It’s not exactly normal for someone to break through my wards just because they want to help,” Daichi glared at him for a second before he took a breath and looked away from Suga’s eyes. “I’m sorry you felt so sick afterwards. I panicked and I shouldn’t have, but Suga, why were you dream hopping anyway?” 

Suga’s mouth opened on it’s own and without thinking he blurted out, “It was my night.” 

“Your night? Is it sometimes someone else’s night?” Daichi asked, cautiously. 

“Yes.” Suga was wary now. Giving up Oikawa’s name probably wasn’t the best idea considering the fact that the man across from him could use magic, pretty face or not. Suga wanted to be sure he could trust him. 

“I told you about the samurai,” Daichi pointed out, noticing Suga’s short answer. 

“You didn’t though. Tell me more about them and let me decide on my own.” Suga could tell that Daichi wasn’t sure if he wanted to trust him yet but there was no way he’d sell out his friends. Even when those friends weren’t talking to him. 

“Please?” Suga allowed just a hint of pleading to come into his voice and Daichi looked at him for minute, weighing his options, before he simply nodded. 

“Okay, it can wait,” Daichi agreed. Suga nodded with relief before he sat back in his chair and closed his eyes in relief. Daichi leaned forward a bit. “So what else do you want to know about the samurai?” 

Suga’s eyes popped back open. “Everything! How old were you when you started? How does it work? Do you have a boss or is it more of an independent thing? Do you use swords like real samurai? What about your-” 

Daichi held up his hands. “Slow down, Suga. Kids are picked when they’re about five and they go through ten years of basic training before they get assigned to a mentor as their apprentice. From there they serve until they turn eighteen. After that they can choose to stay partners with their mentors as equals, pick a new partner from others in their class, or take an apprentice of their own.” Daichi paused to take a sip of his long cold coffee. “There’s a captain and a vice captain and they’re the highest ranks in the samurai order though technically they still have to answer to the government.” 

“The government? So there’s like a ‘Division of Samurai’ or something? Wait, so you have a partner then? Was he your mentor?” Suga asked eagerly. He was surprised that Daichi had told him so much about the samurai but he was going to milk out all of the information he possibly could. Who knew when, or if, he’d ever get to see Daichi again. 

“Yeah I have a partner but he wasn’t my mentor. He’s-” Daichi was cut off as his phone began to ring in his pocket. He motioned for Suga to wait and Suga watched as Daichi pulled out his phone, looking at the name before answering it with a curt hello. Suga’s head was swimming with all of the information that he’d learned that day and millions of questions were buzzing around his head, the most prominent one being how he got so lucky to have met Daichi in the Karasuno. 

“Shit, okay I’ll be there as soon as I can. Fifteen minutes, tops.” Daichi hung up his phone and turned back to see Suga resting his chin on his hand while he watched Daichi with half lidded eyes. 

“You know, you definitely have that whole air of a strong man thing going on. It’s sexy,” Suga said nonchalantly. 

A blush stained Daichi’s cheeks and he stammered out, “You sure hop between serious and flirty pretty quickly.” Suga just shrugged. “But, uh, thanks. You look pretty good yourself if I’m being honest.” Suga smiled and Daichi let his face fall back into a more serious position. “I have to get going but…”

“Yeah?” Suga prompted. 

Daichi took a breath. “Would you want to go on a real date sometime?” 

“A real date?” Suga echoed, sitting up in surprise. 

“Yeah, like dinner and drinks and stuff,” Daichi said, not meeting Suga’s eyes. 

“I like the sound of ‘and stuff,’” Suga said with a laugh. “Sure, let’s go on a real date. I’ll text you, okay?” 

“Sounds good.” Daichi flashed a smile at Suga, taking a second to look at him before he gathered his things and left the coffee shop. Suga just sat and smiled to himself. _Wait until Oikawa heard about this._

\---

Daichi opened the door to his apartment, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep before his patrol that night, but almost immediately he could tell that something was different about his apartment. His eyes swept over the entry way and its connected kitchen, settling on the bag of potato chips on the counter. It figures. 

“Kuroo,” Daichi yelled, annoyed to find that once again, his partner had broken into his apartment. A mess of black hair popped out from around the corner and Kuroo waved at Daichi, a smirk on his face. 

“Welcome home, dear.” 

Daichi sighed and placed his bag on his kitchen table before he brushed past Kuroo and went to collapse on the couch in the living room. His apartment was sparse, Daichi never really felt the need to decorate, it wasn’t like he spent much time there anyway. Normally Kuroo would complain about Daichi taking up the only seating in the living room but this time Kuroo seemed to sense the kind of day Daichi had had and left the room only to come back, a beer in each hand. 

Daichi looked up and scowled. “We have a patrol tonight. Put those back.” 

“One beer isn’t going to do anything to you,” Kuroo said with a roll of his eyes. “Besides, you look like you need it. What happened today?” 

“I took care of those imps on Fourth St. and met the guy that broke through my wards for coffee,” Daichi answered and took a sip from his beer. 

“You met him for coffee?” Kuroo asked, settling down on the floor with his back leaning against the couch. When Daichi nodded he continued, “Okay. Weird as shit, but okay. What was that guy like? Evil mastermind type or what?” 

“More like angel on Earth type,” Daichi said with a groan. “He was fucking beautiful.” 

Kuroo’s eyes widened and his eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Beautiful? The evil mastermind is beautiful?” he questioned sarcastically. 

Daichi ignored his comments and took another sip of his beer. “Yeah, slim waist, big brown doe eyes, this like- silvery blond hair I don’t really know how to explain it- and his smile, holy shit his smile!” Daichi groaned again and Kuroo narrowed his eyes. 

“Okay, I get it, he’s great, but Daichi, he broke through your wards. Don’t let your guard down around him,” Kuroo cautioned. Daichi sat up a little to look down at his friend. 

“Are you really telling me to be cautious? You? Kuroo _Let’s-try-to-ride-it_ Testurou?” Daichi asked incredulously. 

Kuroo met Daichi’s eyes with a scowl on his face. “Don’t be like that; you know I plan things out. I try new things, sure, but I’m not reckless! That’s Bokuto’s job.” 

Daichi leaned back into the couch. “Yeah, I know.” 

“I’m serious though, Daichi. The guy’s got a weird new magic and managed to break through your wards on a night when no one else could have.” Kuroo bit his lip, looking away from his partner. “Something about this just feels wrong to me.” 

“Kuroo, if it gets out of hand I can always use a memory spell on him.” Daichi pointed out. 

“Good luck with that memory spell when he’s meddling in your mind,” Kuroo snapped back. 

Daichi sighed. “I’ll be careful but, you know I can take care of myself and you too for that matter,” Daichi said, and leaned over to ruffle Kuroo’s mess of hair. “I’m going to try to get a few hours of sleep in before our patrol tonight. Think about finding us some food while I’m out?” 

“Yeah, sure,” Kuroo agreed and got to his feet, stretching out his back before he walked over and grabbed Daichi’s keys from the kitchen table. “I’ll wake you up when I get back.” 

Daichi nodded and settled back into the couch and before the apartment door closed behind Kuroo, he was asleep. 

\---

“What’d I tell ya? Incredible isn’t she?” Bokuto bragged as Kuroo and Daichi watched his apprentice twirl around the kumo yokai, war fan slicing the giant spider while she moved with the fluidity of a practiced dancer. Daichi couldn’t help but be impressed; Yachi had more control over her movements than most of the full fledged samurai above her and he couldn’t help but wonder how much of it was due to her own practice rather than her near legendary mentor. Bokuto was still talking, telling Kuroo all about the training he and Yachi had been working on, leaving Daichi to keep watch on the battle. He clearly had a lot of faith in his apprentice and for good reason. With one final slash the kumo yokai crumpled to the ground and took its last hissing breaths before disintegrating into a fine gold powder that was scattered in the wind. Yachi turned and jogged back to high five her mentor. 

“Was that one better than last time? Were there too many unnecessary movements? It felt good but I might have been mistaken or-”

Bokuto laughed and clapped his apprentice on the shoulder, steering her over to face Daichi. “Calm down kiddo, that was great! Even the great Captain is impressed!” Yachi’s eyes grew wide and Daichi felt a smile tug at his lips. 

“He’s right, Yachi. That was very impressive. The best I’ve seen from an apprentice in a long time,” he said, as a look of pure shock took over the young girl’s face. Kuroo chuckled a bit from the side before he leaned his arm on Daichi’s shoulder. 

“You got some real skills, kid, but I’d like to get at least a little sleep tonight so how about we head out?” The rest of the group quickly agreed and they made their way through the streets of the city. Daichi walked in the back of the group, letting Bokuto and Kuroo lead them, protecting their backs like he always did. As Captain of the Samurai he took the safety of his warriors very seriously but he usually walked in the back of the group for a different reason as well. It gave him time to pay attention to each one of the members of the team he was working with that night and make sure they were all doing alright. 

Bokuto and Kuroo were at the front, cracking jokes and telling stories, but every now and again Daichi would spot their eyes darting around the area and taking in their surroundings, always on the look out for trouble. As two of the senior warriors of the samurai he expected as much from the two of them. They each held an important position in the ranks of the Samurai; Bokuto in particular held the title of the strongest warrior seen in generations. He’d proven again and again that his laid back demeanor and joking attitude had no effect on his fighting ability and keen senses. 

He watched Yachi follow behind her mentor, her eyes alert but a small smile on her lips, only solidified the pride that Daichi felt knowing he had convinced Bokuto to take on the shy apprentice. The sharp eyed samurai had initially been skeptical of Yachi’s abilities when Daichi asked him to consider training her but after their first training session together Bokuto had barged into Daichi’s office demanding the chance to offer to be Yachi’s mentor. From then on it seemed like a match made in heaven. Bokuto and Yachi worked together nearly every day in order to develop the same level of teamwork and nonverbal communication normally found only in full fledged samurai pairs that had been working together for years. Yachi’s skills bloomed, Bokuto became more responsible, and Daichi could pat himself on the back for a job well done.

He stayed deep in thought throughout the rest of the patrol, only speaking again when Kuroo dropped back to walk beside his partner. 

“They make a good team, don’t they?” Kuroo said, watching as Bokuto explained how to deal with the kumo yokai’s extra range of vision to his apprentice who was writing notes to herself in the little yellow notebook she always carried. He leaned in closer to his partner, heaving a deep sigh. “Reminds me of us when we were rookies.” 

Daichi shoved Kuroo away playfully. “Shut up, we weren’t like that. You were way too annoying for me to ever look at you the way Yachi looks at Bokuto. Besides, he’s her mentor. If I remember correctly, we graduated a year apart and Ukai was my mentor.” 

“Sure, sure,” Kuroo said flapping his hand, “But we both know he was too busy competing with Nekomata for them to actually bother working with us.” 

Daichi shrugged. “It worked out in the end. We got to go on a lot of patrols together, worked out a fighting style together, and look at us now.” 

“Don’t you mean look at me now?” Kuroo asked with a smirk. “From a lowly trouble maker to partnered with the Captain.” 

Daichi snickered. “Lucky me.” 

“Hey, you picked me. That’s all I’m sayin’,” Kuroo said with a shrug. 

The rest of their patrol was mercifully quiet and Daichi could feel his energy levels dropping and he had to work to keep his yawns from escaping. Finally, five am rolled around and the group made their way back to the Samurai compound. At the front gate Daichi turned to bid the rest goodbye, smiling at the way Yachi tried her best to appear alert and ready even after an eight-hour patrol. They’d run into five different monsters besides the kumo yokai Yachi had fought on her own and the entire team was exhausted. Even Bokuto’s seemingly boundless energy was quelled. Daichi broke off from the rest of the group after his goodbye but before he’d taken more than ten steps, Bokuto caught up with him. 

“Captain! You’re going to see Akaashi and Kiyoko, right? Mind if I tag along for a second? There’s something I want to talk to you about,” Bokuto said and for once, there wasn’t an ounce of a smile on his face. Daichi nodded and wondered what could be bothering him so much. Bokuto led the way away from the gate and further into the Samurai compound, away from the samurai apartments and towards the central offices, waving cheerily to a few of the people that were up. Once he was sure that the two of them were completely alone, Bokuto dropped his smile again and turned to Daichi. “The attacks have been getting worse.” 

Daichi only nodded. It was obvious to all of the samurai that more and more monsters had been prowling the city streets recently. He waited for Bokuto to go on. 

“I’m worried about the solo patrols,” Bokuto said in a rush. 

Daichi started a little at the intensity behind his words; the solo patrols were shorter patrols completed by apprentices in their final year of training. They were part of a long-standing ritual that signified that an apprentice was getting ready to take on the responsibilities of a full samurai. 

“Listen Bokuto, I know you’re worried about it but the apprentices-” Daichi started but Bokuto interrupted him. 

“Captain, we ran into six different groups of monsters tonight and only two of them were singles. Monsters have been travelling in groups; it’s like they’ve figured out how we fight in pairs or something. I don’t like it and I don’t want Yachi running around out there alone.” Bokuto was getting louder and louder and Daichi was suddenly glad that he’d chosen a remote corner of the compound to talk in. 

“They may be travelling in groups but the apprentices have been training for this their whole lives,” Daichi pointed out. 

“I know they have but this is different, you’ve gotta be able to see tha,” Bokuto sounded desperate. “It’s getting more and more dangerous out there and Yachi can’t-” This time Daichi was the one to interrupt. 

“That’s the thing Bokuto: _Yachi can_. We saw her today. She’s one of the most talented recruits we’ve had since you came through the system. I know it’s hard to watch her go through these fights and the extra monsters worry me too but she can do this. Just like we did.” Daichi spoke firmly, authority coating his words. Bokuto deflated a little and all at once he seemed to remember that he was talking to the Captain of the Samurai. 

“Captain, I…” Bokuto seemed at a loss for words and Daichi shook his head. 

“I get that you’re worried about her but you have to trust that you’ve taught her well and that Yachi has the ability to stand as a full fledged samurai.” Bokuto nodded miserably and Daichi sighed. “If it’ll ease your mind, I’ll see what Kiyoko and Akaashi think about pushing the solo patrols back a month or two when I talk to them today.” 

Bokuto lit up at his words and grabbed Daichi’s hand and shook it firmly, gratitude filling his voice as he said, “Thank you so much Captain. I really appreciate it.” 

Daichi waved him off and watched as Bokuto ran off, his exhaustion from the patrol before seemingly forgotten, and felt the weight of another decision descend onto his shoulders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im very excited about this fic :))) pls come talk to me about it
> 
> bicyclestandard.tumblr.com


	4. In Which Everyone is Upset Except for Bokuto

The first time Daichi had to leave their date before they’d even gotten to the restaurant and Suga had brushed it off. The second time he’d had to cancel their first real date and Suga hadn’t been bitter at all. But the third time they actually been seated and placed their drink orders and Suga had high hopes for the button down and tie that Daichi was wearing when the phone call came in and all of the sudden Daichi had stood up to leave, promising to make it up to him. It was obvious that Daichi felt awful and Suga often had to remind himself that Daichi’s job is important, but it was still a hard pill to swallow. 

Tonight though, Suga had a perfect plan. It was supposed to be Kenma’s night to cook dinner but with a small apple pie bribe and a quick phone call, Suga sent him off to spend the night with Hinata. The next step was where things got a little bit tricky. Suga pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and stared down at Daichi’s contact in his phone, chewing on his lip while he debated. One more phone call and he’d know whether he’d be spending the evening with a handsome man in his kitchen or with his hand in his bedroom. He took a deep breath for courage and hits call. 

“Hello?” Daichi’s voice on the other line sounded a bit strained, and Suga could hear him breathing hard. 

“Shit, sorry, is now a bad time?” Suga asked, doubt filling his mind. 

“Uh, a little, but what’s up?” Daichi asked and Suga felt even worse. 

“I, uh, wanted to invite you to dinner tonight. At my apartment. So I can cook for you,” Suga answered. His words were choppy because of his nerves and he silently scolded himself before he tried again, “Yeah, I’m asking you to come over for dinner tonight.” 

Suga heard a loud thud and for a second he thought that Daichi had hung up on him but a second later his voice came back over the line. “You want to cook me dinner? That sounds amazing. I didn’t know you could cook.” 

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me,” Suga teased playfully to hide the blatant lie. 

“I’m at work right now but I could come over around 8. Is that okay?” 

“That sounds perfect,” Suga said happily. There’s another thud in the background and Daichi said a quick goodbye, leaving Suga smiling and ready to have a perfect date night. 

Two hours later and his apartment looked amazing. He’d cleaned everything up a little, putting away Kenma’s games and clearing off the table, and there was a perfectly edible meal simmering on the stove. Sure, it’s just spaghetti and meatballs and maybe he burned the meatballs a little, but it’s good for him. Plus, it goes perfectly with the red wine he’d picked out and if there’s one thing Suga knows, it’s wine. 

It felt like Suga had been waiting for years when he finally heard a knock on his apartment door. He jumped up from the couch and smoothed a hand over his shirt and through his hair before putting on a smile and walking over to answer the door. Daichi stood in his doorway, a single red rose in his hand. 

“A rose? Really?” Suga asked. 

Daichi shrugged. “I’m an old fashioned kind of guy.” 

Suga smiled and let him into the apartment. It was definitely going to be the right kind of evening. 

\---

“I swear he’s actually insane!” Daichi said making Suga laugh so hard that tears were collecting in his eyes. From his spot on the couch in the living room Daichi could his rose sitting in a vase on the kitchen table and he turned back to Suga with a smile on his face, aware that the two of them had gone through quite a bit of wine in the pat hour and a half. He was sitting with his side against the arm of the couch and Suga’s legs in his lap, trying to keep from spilling his current glass, while Suga laughed at his stories of his idiot partner. 

“He tried to… ride it!” Suga gasped out before he lapsed into another fit of laughter. His face was open and full of giddiness and Daichi couldn’t help but be transfixed by how beautiful he looked. He couldn’t tell if it was the wine or not but Daichi had the strongest urge to kiss him and before he could think about it too much, he blurted out, 

“Can I kiss you?” 

Suga stopped laughing and turned to look at Daichi, a bright smile on his face, and set down his glass of wine. “Oh god yes.” 

He looked so eager that Daichi couldn’t help but let out a small laugh of his own before he bent towards Suga and cupped his cheek with one hand. “Is this okay?” 

“It couldn’t be better,” Suga said before he leaned in and pressed his lips against Daichi’s. It was a sweet and simple kiss, nothing more than lips pressed together, and when Daichi pulled back he could tell that Suga was smiling so he brought his other hand up to cradle Suga’s face and moved back in. Their second kiss progressed a little quicker. Suga pulled his legs out of Daichi’s lap so he could press back against his mouth, letting his lips part a little and deepening the kiss. Daichi moved his hands down to Suga’s waist and Suga put his arms around Daichi’s neck, pulling him down on top of him. 

From there everything in Daichi’s world narrowed down to Suga and the feeling of his lips and the movements of his body against Daichi’s. Kissing him felt like he was flying; his stomach dropped and his heart rate was beginning to speed up. It was euphoric. Underneath him Suga opened his mouth and the next thing Daichi knew Suga’s warm tongue was tracing his lips, pushing inside when he opened his mouth in return. 

It felt they had been kissing for only a few minutes but Daichi could already feel his jeans beginning to get get tight. He pulled back from Suga and at his confused whine Daichi blushed and stammered out, “I, uh, maybe we should slow down a bit.” 

Suga narrowed his eyes in confusion before his gaze shifted down and a smirk appeared on his lips. “Why would we stop? We’re just starting to get to the good part.”

Daichi’s eyes widened as Suga’s words hit him and he came down easily when Suga pulled him back against his lips. One of Suga’s legs came up to rub against Daichi through his pants and he groaned at the friction against his rapidly hardening dick. He moved to press his lips against Suga’s neck and he heard a little gasp escape Suga’s lips as he pressed a line of open mouthed kisses down from his jaw to his collarbone where he bit and sucked at the skin in front of him. He couldn’t help but hope it would leave a mark and if the moan Suga let out was any indication, he was probably enjoying it too. 

“Daichi I want…” Suga gasped but before he could finish the thought the sound of a marimba filled the air. 

“Shit,” Daichi said. 

“Daichi, what’s that?” 

“It’s my work phone.”

“Oh.” 

Daichi heaved himself off of Suga, who sat up to watch him grab his phone from the coffee table. 

“Hello?” Daichi asked, praying it was just a question he could answer over the phone. 

“Cap’t! Where ya at? We’ve got a patrol in 20 minutes.” Kuroo’s voice filtered through the other line and Daichi felt like he sounded a little bit too upbeat. 

“We’re not on patrol tonight. It’s Asahi and Kiyoko’s turn, I checked before I left,” Daichi said, irritation bleeding into his tone. Behind him Daichi could hear Suga get up from the couch and walk into the kitchen. 

“Kiyoko asked if we could take their shift tonight and I said why not! It’s not like we have anything better to do and it’s with Yachi and Bokuto. I think he wants to brag to us about her again. Where are you anyway? Is it going to take you a while to get down here?” Kuroo asked. 

Daichi turned to glance at Suga, seated on the couch once again, and gulped hard as he watched Suga look him dead in the eye while he unwrapped a lollipop and slowly lick it. He turned away quickly before furiously whispering into the phone, “I’m at Suga’s right now and you knew that, asshole!” 

“Was that tonight?” Kuroo replied innocently. “What a shame but Kiyoko already left so it’s too late to get them to take their patrol back.” 

Daichi turned back to Suga, who was pushing the lollipop in and out of his mouth slowly, pure sin in his eyes, and Daichi groaned as he ran his hand across his face. “I hate you, you know that?” 

“But?” Kuroo prompted. 

“But I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” Daichi hung up and turned back to Suga just in time to see him collapse back on to the couch looking annoyed. 

“I’m sorry,” Daichi said. 

Suga sighed and turned on his side, facing Daichi. “Give me one last kiss before you leave?”

Daichi smiled and walked back over to the couch, bent over and planted a kiss on Suga’s lips. Suga reached up and gripped his shirt in one hand, pulling him in closer. Daichi returned the pressure, tasting the candy on Suga’s lips, but after a moment he had to pull away to collect his coat and keys. He stumbled a bit trying to get back over to the table and Suga’s mouth pulled into a worried frown. 

“How many glasses of wine did you have? Daichi, did you drive here?” He asked. 

“I didn’t drive; I’m going to take a cab.” Daichi answered, avoiding Suga’s first question. In truth, he was feeling a bit unsteady. His world was spinning and he’d originally thought it was because of kissing Suga but now it seemed like an effect of the wine. He paused for a second, trying to remember how many glasses he’d had. Standing up straight and walking like normal was incredibly hard at the moment but he didn’t want Suga to think that he couldn’t handle his wine so he did his best to seem like he was fine. He really hoped that Suga wouldn’t notice. Daichi nearly sighed with relief when Suga only stood up to walk him out. 

He looked upset and Daichi felt his heart clench at the thought of leaving their date early again. He followed Suga over to the door, and with one final kiss, Daichi tried to pour out how upset he was to be leaving him before he had to tell him goodnight. 

\---

Bokuto Koutarou considered his life pretty damn perfect as he climbed out of bed and searched for a second before finding his underwear and pants. There was movement from the bed behind him but Bokuto didn’t turn as he heard Akaashi’s voice say sarcastically, “Normally you like to cuddle for a bit before you leave.” 

“Yeah, you know how much of a sucker I am for after fuck cuddles,” Bokuto joked with a small chuckle. “Maybe next time, sweetheart; Yachi and I are on patrol tonight.” 

Akaashi leaned himself on one arm as he looked Bokuto up and down, clearly enjoying his back muscles being on display, so Bokuto took his time getting dressed. Akaashi was one of the best fucks he’d had in years and it didn’t hurt to let him stare. 

“I could get someone to cover for you tonight if you want to go again,” Akaashi offered after a moment. 

Bokuto pulled his shirt on the rest of the way before he turned back to the man on the bed, a smirk on his lips. He ran his fingers through his hair and took in Akaashi’s hooded eyes and the dark curls of his hair, letting his fingers trail from the pale column of the other man’s neck to his chest and down to the smooth expanse of his stomach. He was tempted to take Akaashi up on his offer; it definitely wasn’t an empty promise. Akaashi held the highest position of power in the Samurai order despite the fact that he was a noncombatant, or possibly because of it. Bokuto hated the way politics bled into their organization but if one of the nobles had to be involved, he was glad it was Akaashi. 

Akaashi moved his arm, waiting for Bokuto to get out of his head and into his bed, but Bokuto just shook the thoughts from his mind and finished getting dressed. “Not tonight. I promised Yachi we’d work on our combination moves during the patrol tonight.” 

With an ironic salute Bokuto left Akaashi’s room and made his way out of his apartment in the samurai complex and out to the front gate where Yachi and Kuroo were already standing. Yachi didn’t seem to notice anything different about her mentor but Bokuto was never really sure what she did and didn’t see; Kuroo however, narrows his eyes. 

“Really, Bo?” 

Bokuto shrugged in response and thankfully Kuroo only rolled his eyes. Sleeping with his boss isn’t the most reckless thing Bokuto’s ever done and Kuroo had given up trying to convince him to stop. Bokuto turned to his best friend, hands on his hips, and asked, “What’re you doing here anyway? I thought we were on with Asahi and Kiyoko tonight.” 

“Vice Captain asked us to switch. I think Asahi’s having one of his bad nights,” Kuroo replied with a yawn. Yachi looked at him worriedly. 

“Weren’t you and Daichi on the day patrol today too?” Bokuto asked, voicing his apprentice’s thoughts. Yachi was a great fighter but Bokuto knew she still had trouble talking to the senior samurai. She’d once confessed to her mentor that the way Kuroo towered over her and seemed to have a perpetual smirk made her even more nervous so Bokuto always tried to make sure he could pick up on what she wanted to say. 

Kuroo flapped his hand at the two of them. “It’ll be fine. Daichi’s on his way right now.” 

Bokuto could see the way exhaustion hung on Kuroo’s frame, in the bags under his eyes and the way his shoulders were slightly slumped forward, and he wasn’t so sure that his friend would be fine. He was about to say so but at that moment a taxi pulled up on the street right outside of the compound. To Bokuto’s surprise, Daichi came stumbling out of the cab, slowly staggering up to the group. 

“Captain?” Yachi squeaked. 

“Fuck you, Kuroo,” Daichi managed, swaying a little as he stood in front of them. 

“Daichi… are you drunk?” Kuroo asked, surprise coloring his tone. 

“I was supposed to have the night off,” Daichi fired back. 

“So you got drunk… with Suga? Like as a date?” Kuroo sounded a bit off and Bokuto’s knowing gaze slid over to his best friend. He couldn’t say that he knew what Kuroo was going through but he could see just how much it was hurting him. 

“Yeah, I did and it was going great. Why the hell did you pick up this shift?” Daichi was definitely pissed. 

“Why the hell would you go on a date with that guy?” Kuroo snarled back. “He’s probably just trying to get information out of you.” 

“And that’s why you’ve been ruining all of our dates? Because you’re worried about a security breach? Bullshit.” Daichi looked like he was ready to throw a punch and Bokuto threw a look over at Yachi to see how she was reacting. Her face was pale and her lips were pressed into a thin line; Bokuto realized that now was probably the right time to step in. 

“Yo, Captain good to see you!” Three pairs of eyes swiveled over to Bokuto but he was used to being the center of attention. “Didn’t know you were planning to party tonight; how about you head home and sleep it off? Kuroo can help ya get back; he’s still tired from your day patrol. Yachi and I can handle this one alone.” 

“Bo,” Kuroo started. 

“Seriously, it’s not a big deal. I didn’t get the title of Ace for nothing right?” Bokuto didn’t want to hurt his friend’s feelings but there was no way Daichi could go out on patrol tonight anyway. The captain sighed and Kuroo finally seemed to accept his plan. 

“Yeah, alright. Just be careful, okay?” Kuroo said. 

Bokuto flashed him a thumbs up. “We got this. Right Yachi?” 

His apprentice stood up a little straighter, determination filling her eyes. Bokuto’s smile brightened even more. He loved it when she got tough like that. “Yessir!” 

Mentor and apprentice stood together and watched the other pair walk off towards the samurai apartments. Once they had disappeared from sight, Bokuto turned to face Yachi but she interrupted him before he could speak. 

“Thank you for that, sir.” 

Bokuto smiled at her. “No problem kiddo.” He paused, about to ask if she was okay, when she interrupted him again. 

“Combination practice tonight?” 

Bokuto laughed at her eagerness and nodded. 

He’d always thought that he was a man of action, that training apprentices was better left to people like Daichi or Kiyoko, people who could explain things with all of the right words, but training Yachi had easily become one of his favorite parts of his job. She was so quick and so bright and their combination was easily in the top three most powerful apprentices their branch had ever trained. Bokuto felt a small spike of fear at the thought of how good Yachi was becoming; at this rate she’d be able to pick anyone she wanted to be her partner. He knew he was one of the strongest fighters in the organization but Yachi was a young girl, she’d probably want someone closer to her own age. A man in his late twenties was most likely not her first choice. 

“I want to practice more with the war fan and your brass gloves tonight, if that’s okay,” Yachi commented lightly. “I think if we can get it up to the speed of our other weapon combos we could get the transitions from one weapon to the other a lot faster.” 

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” Bokuto answered, doing his best to focus on the here and now rather than worry about the future. It would get here eventually no matter how much time he spent worrying on it anyway. He looked down at his apprentice. “We’re going up west side first, okay?” 

Yachi nodded and he led the way down their route. They kept quiet now that the patrol had started. Normally, he was a lot more talkative but then again, normally there were two other people watching their backs. When there were only two of them the patrol required a lot more concentration. 

“Yachi, two o’clock," 

Bokuto whispered. Out of the corner of his eye he saw her freeze, slowly turning to face the oni in front of them, red skin almost glowing in the streetlight. Its eyes were on the window above it, transfixed by the light shining through it and the shadow moving around inside. Bokuto could see it’s leg muscles bunching as it prepared to leap at the window to get to it’s prey and with a flick of his wrist, his shotgun manifested and Bokuto swung it into place before he sent a round straight into the beast’s thigh. The oni let out a howl but Yachi’s silencing spell went into effect just in time and only Bokuto and Yachi were able to hear the cry. 

“Take right,” Bokuto commanded, switching his shotgun for his brass gloves, not bothering to check and see if Yachi listened to him. She always did. He rushed the monster straight on with a punch that even when blocked, sent it staggering back. He didn’t give it time to recover as his fist flew forward again and smashed into the wood of the beast’s club, caught for the moment, but Bokuto wasn’t worried about it. After all, his job in this combination was to hold the oni’s focus. 

Yachi ran around it’s side and in a quick series of twirls, sliced three deep cuts into the oni’s thick neck muscles. Bokuto then yanked his fist back and with one more swing, crashed it into the beast’s skull, bone crunching beneath his gloved hand. He stood and watched the beast disintegrate into golden dust quickly scattered on the wind.

“That was nearly seamless. Your timing is better than some of the full fledged samurai,” he said with a grin and turned to Yachi. She glowed at his praise and once again Bokuto found himself glad that he’d gotten to take Yachi as his apprentice. 

“Thank you, sir. I have a great teacher,” Yachi answered. 

“Quit calling me sir,” he laughed, inspecting his gloves for any sign that the fight had damaged them. Chances were that they were completely fine but it was a good excuse to hide the pleased blush he felt staining his cheeks. “Let’s hit a bar, Yachi. I want to celebrate!” 

“Maybe after the patrol?” Yachi suggested with a small smile. 

“Yeah, I guess we can’t really afford to end up like the Captain,” he said with a chuckle. Yachi gave him an admonishing look and Bokuto only shrugged, still grinning, before he set off to finish the rest of the patrol. Yachi jogged behind him, shaking her head while Bokuto pretended not to notice. It wasn’t until they’d gone another few blocks that Bokuto spoke again. 

“So you’ve been practicing with Kiyoko and Asahi a lot recently,” he said casually. Next to him he could see Yachi tense up and he nearly laughed. “Relax, you’re not in trouble or anything. It’s good that you’re learning new styles, though I didn’t know you had an interest in bows.” 

Yachi laughed nervously. “Yeah, bows are, uh, really elegant.” 

Bokuto side-eyed his apprentice. “Elegant, right. Well respected, too.” 

“And gorgeous.” 

“Tough as nails.” 

“Graceful in everything they do.” 

“Amazing boobs.” 

“God, yes and that beauty mark.” 

“Ha! Bows don’t have boobs or beauty marks; I knew you were into Kiyoko. You don’t care about learning how to shoot a bow and arrow at all do you?” Bokuto shouted triumphantly. 

Yachi gave him a look of pure despair as she said, “Of course I’m into her. Who wouldn’t be into her? She’s perfect.” 

Bokuto nudges her shoulder, grin still firmly in place. “So ask her out. You’re already 18.” 

Yachi gave her mentor a withering look. “I can’t just ask her out. She’s beautiful and smart and kind; I am a lowly slug compared to her. I’m barely fit to worship the ground she walks on. Plus, she’s probably not even into girls.” Bokuto raised his eyebrow at her and Yachi mumbled, “And every time I look at her my heart starts beating way too fast. I can barely talk to her when we practice together.” 

“I have faith in you, young apprentice,” Bokuto said solemnly. 

“Stop,” Yachi whined, pulling out the syllables of the word. 

“First off,” Bokuto said counting off with his fingers, “I know for a fact that Kiyoko is at least bisexual. Secondly, You’re great, Yachi. You’re smart, kind, and uh, whatever else you said Kiyoko was. I know it, she knows it, and now it’s time you knew it too,” Bokuto answered. When Yachi only groaned and covered her face with her hands Bokuto decided it was another time for him to take action. “If you don’t ask her out, I’ll start dropping hints. You know how subtle my hints are.” 

“About as subtle as a ton of bricks,” Yachi responded, voice muffled by her hands. She finally lifted her face and straightened her back. “Okay, fine, I’ll do it.” Bokuto was about to start cheering when Yachi held up a finger and looked him dead in the eye. “But you can’t interfere. You have to let me do it my way, got it sir?” 

“I promise,” Bokuto said with a laugh. 

“Pinky promise?” 

“Yeah, pinky promise.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i like new friends and i like hq!! ships. let's talk about it
> 
> bicyclestandard.tumblr.com


	5. In Which Akaashi Is Easily Distracted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i changed the rating. there's smut sprinkled throughout this fic. like it's tame-ish now but uh... it gets worse. also like fight scenes and wounds and things. so yea

Suga snuck a look at his phone while the line at the Karasuno was slow and was shocked to find ten texts and three missed calls from Tooru waiting for him. It was a complete turnaround from the way Tooru had been treating him before. Suga glanced up to make sure that there weren’t any customers waiting for him before he looked back down to check the messages. 

**From: Alien King**

12:23pm: _So??? How’d it go with the hot dreamer???_

**From: Alien King**

12:36pm: _Did he not show up??? Is that why you aren’t texting me back???_

**From: Alien King**

12:40pm: _Did you do something dirty ;))_

**From: Alien King**

12:45pm: _Okay okay sorry!_

**From: Alien King**

12:51pm: _Come on Suga spill!_

The rest were just variations of Suga’s name. He sighed and locked his phone, unsure of how to answer Tooru. He’d be thinking about whether he should tell him about the samurai for a while now and hadn’t really come up with a solution. On one hand, this was the most Tooru had talked to him in weeks and as a dream walker, knowledge of the samurai would probably be incredibly helpful but on the other hand, he’d promised Daichi that he wouldn’t tell anyone about the samurai. If Tooru knew than there was a solid chance that he’d tell at least four other people, not counting Iwaizumi. Not to mention the fact that if Suga told Tooru, then he’d have to tell Kenma too. Suga sighed again. 

“What’s got you all bummed out?” Kunimi asked from his station at the expresso machine. Suga was surprised that he even asked considering the phone in Kunimi’s hands and the fact that he didn’t even bother to look up. 

Suga thought about it for a second before he turned to Kunimi and asked, “What would you do if you really want to tell someone a secret because it could really help them but it might hurt someone else?” 

“I don’t know, I guess I’d just ask the other person if it’s okay,” Kindaichi said, coming up behind Kunimi. “If it’ll really help the first person than the other person will probably say yes.” 

“Yeah, that,” Kunimi agrees, eyes never leaving his phone. 

“But what if he gets mad at me for asking?” The last thing Suga wanted was for Daichi to be angry at him. They hadn’t even had sex yet; he didn’t want to throw it all away before they got to the good part. 

Kunimi rolled his eyes. “He can’t get mad at you for asking.” 

“Yeah, It’s the polite thing to do,” Kindaichi piped up. 

Suga looked at the two of them and in a moment of courage he said, “Okay, cover for me for a second?” 

Kindaichi nodded and Suga slipped behind them and into the stockroom in the back. He briefly wondered if Ennoshita was aware of how little work his employees actually did before he hit call and brought his phone up to his ear. 

“Hey, Suga,” Daichi answered and Suga smiled at the distinct happy tone in his voice. 

“Hi Daichi,” he replies, putting a hint of sweetness in his voice. No sense in not trying to sugarcoat what he was about to ask. He didn’t want one of the best asses he’d seen in years to become nothing more than a memory. “I wanted to ask you something about your job.” 

“Okay,” Daichi said and Suga could tell that he was a little bit wary. 

“I want to tell a couple of people about it.” 

“Why?” It was a chance that Suga wasn’t really sure that he would get so he dove right into his explanation, still making sure to leave out names, and Daichi stayed silent as Suga talked about his partners in dream walking. He really felt like they needed to know about the samurai considering the nature of their work; hell, maybe they could even learn from each other. Daichi listened to Suga’s full explanation and when he finished, Daichi waited a minute before he answered. 

“Alright, this is what I can do: You can tell three people but you also have to give me their full names.” 

“Full names?” Suga thought for a minute before he asked, “Can I ask them if they’re okay with it first? Give them a choice?” 

“Sure, Suga that’s fine,” Daichi agreed easily. A little too easily, Suga thought, but he wasn’t going to question it. 

“Great, glad that’s out of the way. Now, on to better things,” Suga announced. 

“Better things?” Daichi echoed, a question in his voice. 

Suga leaned his hip on the counter beside him and even though Daichi couldn’t actually see him, he smirked. “When are we going to have a do over for last time?” 

Daichi sighed and Suga felt his smirk drop into a little frown. “I don’t know, Suga. I want to, believe me I really want to, but I’m stuck on either dream patrols or night patrols all week.” 

“Dream patrols?” Suga asked, an idea beginning to take shape in his mind. 

“Yeah, it’s kind of like what you do but we’re a lot less precise about it. You just flit through all of the dreams of people in a certain sector and hope you run into something. How do you guys always manage to find the nue anyway?” 

“Trade secrets,” Suga murmured, still thinking his plan through. 

“One day let’s trade our trade secrets,” Daichi said.

Suga chose to ignore that comment for the time being. “Listen I’ve got an idea.” 

“I’m all ears,” Daichi replied. 

“So what if we go on your dream patrol together? I’m supposed to be dream walking four times this week anyway and that way you could jump with me right to where the nue are,” Suga explained, voice excited with the prospect of getting to see Daichi in action. He’d been wondering how the samurai fight for a while now. Did they use slingshots like him? Or maybe a gun like Tooru? Maybe they used something completely different. Suga was dying to know and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to have his curiosity sated and get to see Daichi at the same time. 

“You think that would work?” Daichi asked. 

“Yeah, I think it’d be great,” Suga answered, excited by the idea. 

“Okay, sure let’s give it a try,” Daichi agreed. They spent another couple of minutes hashing out the details of when and where (Suga’s apartment, in two days) and when Suga hung up the phone he was genuinely excited to see how it would work. He slipped his phone back into his apron pocket and headed back out to the cash register, a smile on his face. 

\---

“I can tell you but you have to agree to me telling him your full name,” Suga said, looking Tooru in the eye so he knew that Suga was serious. They were sitting in Tooru’s living room, a few feet of space between them that Suga tries not to think about. Once upon a time they would have been basically on top of one another, just waiting for Kenma or Iwaizumi to come home and join the pile of limbs. Now there is a distinctly awkward feeling in the air and Suga did his best to pretend like he couldn’t feel it. 

“He wants my name? That sounds… like a B-rated gang movie,” Tooru joked and Suga forced a smile. Tooru didn’t realize just how close he was to the truth. The samurai weren’t necessarily a gang, but the more Suga heard about them, the more he could see parallels between the two organizations. Tooru’s eyes flicked down to Suga’s fake smile and Suga was once again reminded of just how well his friend could read him. The laughter in Tooru’s eyes faded and he nodded, signaling for Suga to tell him everything. 

“He’s a samurai,” Suga started, and almost immediately Tooru leaned forward. Suga kept talking and with every word, Tooru grew more and more interested. Fifteen minutes later and Suga felt like a giant weight had been lifted from his shoulders as he sat next to Tooru, knees pressed together, as he tried to draw an illustration of the hierarchy of the samurai like Daichi had told him. 

“And your hot dreamer… where does he fit into this nice little chart?” Tooru asked, eyebrows knitted together in concentration. 

“I actually don’t know. I mean I know that he’s a full fledged samurai, he’s got a partner, but that’s about it,” Suga answered honestly. 

“What other clues has he-” Tooru stopped midsentence as the door to the apartment opened and closed and Iwaizumi’s voice filtered down the hall. 

“Oikawa? Who’s here?” 

“It’s me,” Suga called out helpfully from the couch. For a second he got his hopes up, thinking it would be just like old times but when he turned back to Tooru, his friend’s face was closed off again and he had moved a little bit away from Suga, a small frown on his lips. “Tooru?” 

“It’s nothing,” Tooru replied, a fake smile back in place as he flapped a hand at him. Suga opened his mouth to try to pull an explanation out of his friend but Tooru stood up first and said, “It’s getting late; you should probably head home, Suga. Don’t want to be late for your night on the clock!” 

Iwaizumi watched from the entrance to the hallway with a sympathetic look on his face that Suga tried his best to ignore as he gathered up his bag. It wasn’t until five minutes after the door had been shut behind him that Suga finally let the false smile drop from his face.

\---

Akaashi Keiji had always been told that he had been raised for this job, that he was the perfect person to head the samurai from an organizational standpoint. He rarely questions it but there are moments when he isn’t sure if he’s up to the task after all. Those moments have been more and more frequent lately and it’s starting to wear on him.

He stifled a sigh and looked down at the papers organized into two stacks on his desk. The stack on his right are of the oldest class currently in the academy and it’s his job to sort out those who would be a good fit for the Fukurodani branch of the samurai organization but every time he tries to go through them, Akaashi can’t help but feel sick to his stomach. These new apprentices would be under his command; their lives would be his responsibility. The weight of his job sat heavy on his shoulders and Akaashi’s gaze slid over to the second pile on his left. Each of the sheets were profiles on Fukurodani’s current apprentices with only one year of training left. Daichi had asked if they could hold off on the solo patrols for a month or two but the stacks sitting in front of Akaashi were a polite way of telling their branch that it was time to get a move on. 

He slumped forward in his chair, resting his head on his arms and trying to get into the right mindset for his job but out in the hallway he could hear Bokuto chatting with Yukie and his brain was sent into another spiral. Bokuto Koutarou was becoming a problem for Akaashi. The best fighter their branch had seen in decades, Bokuto held a prestigious position in the samurai organization but he was still only a samurai and an orphan one at that. A noble like Akaashi shouldn’t be anywhere near that man but everything about him seemed to pull Akaashi in. 

He let out a small groan as his mind helpfully supplied him with mental images of the last time he’d seen Bokuto and he was immediately grateful for the thick walls of his office. Akaashi tried to breathe slowly, willing himself into a calmer state of mind so he could avoid thinking about Bokuto or the dangers of promoting the apprentices too soon but there was a sharp knock on the door to his office and then the door was slammed open. 

“Akaashi, Yukie says you’re working too hard again.” Bokuto’s voice filled the room and Akaashi lifted his head from his desk to send the samurai a withering look. 

“Do you need something, Bokuto-san?” He asked, the added formality weighing heavily on his tongue. To his surprise Bokuto didn’t answer right away. He quietly closed the door behind him and after a second turned back and locked it as well. Akaashi’s eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to protest but before he could say a word, Bokuto crossed the room and leaned over Akaashi’s desk to press a kiss against his lips. Whatever he had been about to say was pushed back into his mouth by Bokuto’s insistent tongue and Akaashi can’t quite bring himself to break away. 

It ends up being Bokuto who steps back but only so he can walk around the desk and tug Akaashi out of his chair. He shoves it out of the way and steps forward, forcing Akaashi to back up until the back of his legs hit the wood of his desk. The stacks of paper are also shoved to the side, giving Akaashi a place to sit on the edge of his desk, Bokuto in-between his legs, pressing hot, wet kisses against his neck. It was neither the time or the place for this but Akaashi didn’t bother telling him, especially when Bokuto’s lips begin to suck at a particularly sensitive spot under his jaw. 

Well, it’s not like he was getting any real work done anyway. 

\---

Iwaizumi hung up his coat and toed off his shoes as quietly as he could, doing his best to keep from waking Oikawa. He’d woken up alone this morning and when he’d gone out to the living room, Oikawa had still been dream walking. Iwaizumi had never really been sure how the actual dream walking worked and if he based his assumptions off of Suga, then it would be entirely normal for Oikawa to have stayed up the whole night trying to protect people from the nue. He’d shaken his boyfriend’s shoulder carefully to bring him out of the trace and Oikawa had blinked up at him before his eyes shifted to the clock on the mantle. Oikawa’s eyes widened and he’d turned back to find Iwaizumi’s hand waiting to help pull him up and get him to bed. 

Now Iwaizumi did his best to tiptoe through the apartment, hoping to let Oikawa sleep as much as he could. These past few months he’d seen the dark circles under Oikawa’s eyes grow more and more prominent and it was starting to worry him. Sure, Oikawa could protect everyone else, but he couldn’t seem to manage taking care of himself. So when Iwaizumi glanced into the living room through the cutout wall in the kitchen and saw his boyfriend sitting on the couch, glasses perched on his nose as he leaned forward to read something on his laptop, he was more than a little bit annoyed. 

Oikawa quickly noticed his glare and turned to send him a tired smile that deflated most of Iwaizumi’s built up anger in one swoop. “Iwa-chan! I’m glad you’re home. I was wondering if you could maybe make me some more bullets soon; I used a lot of them last night.” 

Iwaizumi’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he said, “More of them? I just made you a new batch a week ago.” 

“Ah, I know it’s probably hard to even imagine but my aim has been kind of off this week and I’ve had to use a lot more of them than normal.” Oikawa’s tone was apologetic and light but his words only served to remind Iwaizumi of how much the stress was effecting his boyfriend. When Iwaizumi didn’t reply, Oikawa shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his computer, reading whatever was on his screen and scribbling notes into a small notebook. Iwaizumi took a breath in, walked into the living room and sat next to Oikawa on the couch, careful not to sit on any of the pages scattered out around him. He tried to look at what Oikawa was reading so intently but the text on the screen was in a language that Iwaizumi was pretty sure no one even spoke anymore. He briefly wondered when Oikawa had learned a dead language before he dismissed the thought and instead leaned forward and gently shut the laptop. 

“Rude, Iwa-chan. I was working on something,” Oikawa exclaimed, but the words sounded tired and Iwaizumi turned to his boyfriend and looked him dead in the eye. 

“Why are you even awake right now? You couldn’t have gotten more than four hours of sleep.” 

Oikawa avoided his eyes and shrugged and Iwaizumi could feel himself beginning to get frustrated. “I just couldn’t sleep.” 

Iwaizumi stood up abruptly, knocking some of the papers he’d so carefully avoided crushing earlier off of the couch and onto the floor. Oikawa looked up at him blearily and Iwaizumi’s heart clenched at the nearly blank look in his eyes. 

“That’s enough work for today. We’re taking a nap and I’ll make sure you sleep this time,” he announced, voice gruff. Oikawa raised an eyebrow. 

“Oh, will you now?” 

Iwaizumi dipped down and in the next moment he had a slightly stunned Oikawa slung over his shoulder. “Yup, let’s go.” 

He turned and marched them down the hallway to the bedroom, slightly concerned by the utter lack of a fight that Oikawa was putting up. With one arm he opened the door and walked, careful to keep Oikawa’s head from hitting the doorframe. Iwaizumi laid him out on the bed and any thoughts about using sex to tire out his stubborn ass boyfriend fled from his mind. Oikawa’s eyes were half closed already and Iwaizumi did his best to get the two of them down to their boxers before he arranged Oikawa so that his back was pressed to Iwaizumi’s chest and pulled the covers up over the both of them, his arm finally settling around Oikawa’s waist. He felt as well as heard Oikawa’s yawn and was surprised when he didn’t immediately pass out. 

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do Iwa-chan, I really do, but there’s so much I need to be working on right now,” Oikawa said quietly. 

“You need to be working on yourself. Quit running yourself ragged,” he answered just as quietly. 

Oikawa threaded his fingers through Iwaizumi’s, not answering for a moment before he said, “It’s important work.” 

“Important work you could be sharing with Suga.” 

“Suga has enough to deal with right now and it’s only going to get worse for him,” Oikawa replied. 

“You mean with the whole samurai thing?” Iwaizumi asked, curious to know what his boyfriend thought about the newest addition to the magical world they were still trying to understand. 

Oikawa nodded. “Something’s going on and I have a feeling that Suga is going to be right in the middle of it.” Oikawa spoke slowly, like he had picked each word with the utmost care and Iwaizumi found himself wondering, not for the last time, what exactly his boyfriend was keeping from the rest of them. 

“Is that what you’ve been working on so much? This thing?” Iwaizumi asked and when Oikawa nodded again, he continued, “When are you going to tell me about it? More importantly, when are you going to tell him about it?” 

Oikawa hummed a little. “It’s part of it, and soon, I promise.” 

“Just know that I can help you. I want you to be alright. Let me take care of you, please,” Iwaizumi felt desperation begin to creep into his voice. Oikawa pulled his arm a little more more securely around his waist and let Iwaizumi take a moment before he responded. 

“You always take such good care of me, Hajime,” Oikawa whispered, voice floating through the air of the room. Iwaizumi felt his throat close up at the exhaustion in every word Oikawa said. 

“You won’t do it yourself so if I don’t, who will?” Iwaizumi muttered, the words nearly sticking in his throat, before he pressed his lips against Oikawa’s shoulder and left a light kiss there. _Though I’m not doing a very good job of it,_ he thought though out loud he only said, “Now will you go to sleep already?” 

Oikawa sighed and it wasn’t long before his breathing evened out and Iwaizumi could begin to breathe normally again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first off, thank you so much to everyone who's left a kudo or a comment, or bookmarked this story or reblogged my tumblr posts about it. it means so much to writers to get feedback like that. even if you don't have much to say, i cherish your comment.
> 
> next, please come yell at me on tumblr. i want to be your friend. bicyclestandard.tumblr.com


	6. In Which Daichi Breaks Down a Door, Literally and Figuratively

Suga sat on his couch, leaning forward a bit as he tried to gauge Kenma’s reactions. His friend was as closed off as ever, but after knowing him for almost ten years, Suga had learned to pick up on a few things. Kenma’s mouth was set in the smallest of frowns and he was looking down towards his hands as they idly played with the ends of his sleeves. Not the best sign. 

_He’s thinking about something he’s been avoiding,_ Suga’s mind supplied helpfully. He opened his mouth to say something- anything- to make Kenma feel better but with a short shake of Kenma’s head, Suga’s mouth snapped shut. He’d had such high hopes for this talk, but Kenma clearly wasn’t as excited at the prospect of a dream date as Suga was. 

Daichi had thought the idea seemed interesting and Suga was eager to give it a try, but now he was beginning to realize that it might be harder to pull off than he’d originally thought. He sat, anxiously fidgeting, while he waited for Kenma to (hopefully) come around. Another minute of being patient and Kenma straightened up a little and looked up at Suga.

“I guess I can help,” he said, voice small, and Suga had to keep himself from launching at Kenma to pull him in for a hug. Normally, he wasn’t this excited at the prospect of a date, but a dream date felt like a new adventure, a chance to see Daichi in action, and Suga was in desperate need of something to get his mind off of the train wreck that was his life. 

“Thank you so much Kenma! He’ll be here at 10,” Suga said, as he got up from the couch to get started on dinner. He heard Kenma sigh and stand up behind him and Suga smiled at the sounds of his friend following behind him into the kitchen. Kenma sat on the counter and watched as Suga pulled out a few frozen dinners and begin preparing them, silent for the moment. It wasn’t until the two of them were waiting on the microwave to finish that he finally spoke up. 

“You told me the basis, but I want to know more about the samurai.” 

Suga turned to face him and propped his hip against the unused stove. “What do you want to know?” 

“Everything he’s told you.” 

Suga supposed it was fair that Kenma be in on everything he’d learned about the samurai. After all, with how much he’d done for the Dream Doctors, Kenma was heavily invested in the business of fighting nightmares. The problem was where to start. Suga thought for a moment before he came up with the right place. 

“They protect people for monsters just like we do,” he began and over the course of dinner, proceeded to tell Kenma everything he could think of about the samurai and Sawamura Daichi. If he used the time to gush about Daichi a little, well, that wouldn’t hurt anyone, right? 

Kenma listened to the whole story, only asking a few questions and when Suga was finished he was quiet, taking some time to process the information. Suga let him, doing his best not to make too much noise and disturb his friend. 

From the beginning Suga had always had an easier time accepting the supernatural than Kenma. As a child he’d grown up reading fairytales and fantasies and when they’d discovered dream walking, Suga had been the first one to try it out. It had all been fun and games back then and Kenma hadn’t been convinced that Suga had actually gone to the Dream World until Suga and Tooru had dragged him along on one of their nights. Waking up from their adventure Kenma had promptly told the two of them that he was never dream walking again. 

True to his word, Kenma never went into the Dream World again, but he stayed with Suga on the nights he went in and did his best to help the Dream Doctors research the monsters they had begun to find haunting people’s nightmares. It had been Kenma who came up with the type of shots for Suga’s slingshot and Tooru’s bullets; he was as much a Dream Doctor as either of them. 

Suga was suddenly struck with the horrible fear of Kenma’s reaction to the news of the samurai and he quickly turned back to his friend, hoping to say something to put Daichi’s organization in a good light. “I think they’re really-“

“They’re helping people?” Kenma interrupted quietly. “Just like us?” 

Suga nodded, biting his bottom lip.

“I’d like to talk to your Daichi too,” Kenma said after a moment. 

“My Daichi?” Suga asked with a grin. 

“He’s your responsibility,” Kenma answered, and Suga’s smile sank. He was right. If something were to go wrong and the samurai were to decide that they couldn’t have Dream Doctors running around the city, it would be his fault. 

“I know,” Suga replied. Kenma looked at him and then away before he cleared his throat. 

“So a dream date?” 

Suga’s grin came back. “Sexy, right?” 

Kenma just glared at him and Suga laughed before he went on. “Okay, okay, so it’s not exactly the most normal date night in the world but I want to see him in action. Plus, it’ll be a good chance to learn a bit more about how the samurai fight. They’ve been around for hundreds of years; maybe they have a way to kill the nue without all the hassle we go through.” 

“Doubt it,” Kenma muttered. 

Suga shrugged, “Japanese legends don’t go down easy, I know, but it can’t hurt to see how they do it. The samurai fight other things too; I’ve been meaning to ask Daichi more about the other monsters out there.” 

“Nue aren’t enough?” Kenma asked. 

“I want to do more for people,” Suga answered honesty coating his words. Kenma looked like he wanted to argue with him more but at that moment there was a knock at the door and Suga hopped up from the couch. He fussed with the collar of his black and white striped shirt and looked down at his dark cropped jeans before turning to Kenma, “How do I look?” 

His friend blushed a little as he looked him up and down, “You look great, Suga. You always do.” 

Suga felt a smile pull at his cheeks and he swooped down to press a quick kiss to Kenma’s cheek. “You’re the best friend a guy could ever have.” Kenma’s blush deepened and Suga skipped over to answer the door. 

\---

Kenma rubbed his cheek thoughtfully, still feeling the soft press of Suga’s lips against it. This dream date business seemed like a bad idea to him, but Suga was just so excited about it… Kenma sighed and looked up when he heard voices coming down the hall into the living room. A moment later Suga walked in followed by the man Kenma could only assume was Sawamura Daichi. Kenma’s eyes took in the other man and his stomach dropped. 

Sawamura was taller than Suga by a couple of inches and with broad shoulders, tanned skin, and short, dark hair; he was literally everything Kenma wasn’t. Suga said something, Kenma was too busy trying to breathe to pay attention to whatever it was, and Sawamura laughed in answer, eyes closed and face open. Suga had his flirting face on when Kenma looked back at him and it pulled on the knot in Kenma’s stomach just a little more. He’d always known that he wasn’t really Suga’s type but it was another matter entirely to have it thrown into his face this way. 

“Kenma?” 

Kenma shook out of his thoughts and realized that Suga must have called him more than once. He hummed in response and when Suga introduced Sawamura, Kenma managed to nod his head politely. Sawamura came to sit next to him on the couch while Suga ran off to grab the herbs needed for the ritual for dream walking and Kenma had to fight the urge to curl in on himself and away from Sawamura. 

He wasn’t planning to start any conversations but Sawamura took the initiative anyway. “So I heard you’ve been brought in on our little secret.” 

Kenma only nodded in response and Sawamura continued. “Do you have any questions about it? If there’s anything I’ve learned from Suga, it’s that the Dream Doctors always have more questions.” 

He looked at Kenma hopefully, tan face open and happy and Kenma took in the sincerity of his expression and tried once more to like the man sitting in front of him. A second later Suga called out from his bedroom, asking Sawamura whether or not he was planning to use Suga’s spell or his own methods of entering the dream world, and as Sawamura calmly called out a reply, Kenma resigned himself to the idea that he’d probably never like him. 

That left Kenma only one real option: learn everything he could about the samurai to prepare for the day the Dream Doctors would have to fight them. There was just no way this friendship between the two groups could last, no matter how much Suga liked Sawamura. 

“Sawamura-san, I was wondering if you could tell me more about the way the samurai conduct their everyday business,” Kenma asked quietly. Sawamura’s eyes slid back to look at Kenma’s and he seemed relieved to hear his question. 

_He’s probably hoping I’ll like him for Suga’s sake,_ Kenma thought. 

“We have multiple patrols running every day with a 15-minute break between each patrol,” Sawamura started and Kenma gave him a small nod to how that he was listening. “The late night patrol is the hardest one to work so they always have two pairs of samurai go on them and most of the time it’s the more experienced samurai who are put on those patrols. A lot of times apprentices will have those patrols as well because they’re the most well manned. Did Suga explain the apprentices to you?” 

Kenma nodded. 

“Great,” Sawamura continued. “They generally get put on late night patrols since they’ll have three full fledged samurai to learn from.” He caught the look on Kenma’s face and hastily explained, “It’s not that bad, really. The samurai and apprentices all live in the same apartment complex and it’s close to headquarters so it’s not hard to get over to the meeting place for patrols.” 

A terrible thought was beginning to form in Kenma’s mind but before he could pursue it further, Suga walked back into the room, arms overflowing with the materials he needed to go dream walking. Sawamura jumped up to help him carry some of the jars of herbs and the moment to ask questions was lost. 

“What’s all of this stuff for?” Sawamura asked and Suga was off, explaining the method Kenma had created to help Suga and Oikawa walk through dreams. Kenma unfolded himself from his position on the couch and kneeled to begin the diagram for the ritual while Suga was talking. 

From there on Kenma went into autopilot, crushing herbs and sprinkling the mixture around the room while Sawamura watched and Suga explained the purpose for every movement. Kenma was happy to notice that Suga retained some kind of cautiousness and left out the names of the specific herbs used in the ritual. It wasn’t until Suga and Sawamura were sitting cross legged on the floor, backs against the couch, about to go into the Dream World, that Sawamura’s phone rang and listening to the conversation brought Kenma’s heart up to his throat. 

“No, Kageyama, you can’t switch apprentices. He’s a promising candidate even if he is a bit older than we normally take them; just because you don’t like him doesn’t change that,” Sawamura said patiently. He continued to talk down the man complaining on the other line but Kenma’s thoughts were stuck on one thing. 

_Kageyama._ Not exactly a common name. 

Kenma thought back to every time he’d wondered about Hinata moving out, wondered about his new job, wondered why he wouldn’t tell him more about it. His eyes flicked over to Sawamura and Kenma remembered that Suga had mentioned the way samurai could use magic without herbs or rituals. If there was a spell for honesty, who’s to say that there wasn’t a spell to keep people from seeing the truth? Or maybe just to keep people from asking questions. Hinata could be mixed up in all of this dream business despite the pains Kenma had taken to keep him safe from the world of magic. 

He felt tears begin to well up in his eyes and as soon as Suga was set up, Kenma made his excuses and left, heading for one specific apartment building across town and hoping against everything that he was wrong. 

\---

Every Thursday night since he’d become a full fledged samurai Bokuto had done the same thing. Nine o’clock sharp he knocked on Kuroo’s door, case of beer tucked under his arm, pizza box in his other hand, and every time Kuroo answered the door with a grin. Thursday was the beginning of their weekend since they both worked the Saturday night patrol and in Bokuto’s mind, there was no better way to spend the night than getting drunk with his best friend. It was tradition and tonight was no different. 

“Lemme take those off your hands,” Kuroo said, swinging the pizza box out of his hand. Bokuto grinned and followed his best friend into the apartment, setting the case down on the counter in the kitchen. 

“So I was thinking we could finally watch _Better Off Dead_ tonight. What do ya think?” Bokuto called as he yanked the cardboard case open and grabbed a couple of beers. 

Kuroo turned around from where he’d made his way into the living room, a slice of pizza in one hand and the open box in the other. “I still don’t really get your obsession with ‘80’s rom coms. Also, throw that case in the fridge. What are you, a barbarian?” he demanded. 

Bokuto only shrugged and did as he was told. Kuroo had been kind of off for the past couple of weeks and Bokuto had made it his mission to figure out what was bugging his friend. He’d listen to Bokuto’s problems for hours and offer useful advice at the end of it all but Kuroo wasn’t really the kind of guy to sit around talking about his own feelings unless he was either really drunk or really tired. It was time to exploit that. “Okay, so no rom coms, but how about this, right, let’s do a power hour.” 

Kuroo groaned in mock despair but he was quick to put the pizza down a grab a couple of shot glasses from the kitchen drawer. He cracked open the beer Bokuto handed him and poured them each a shot. Bokuto stood next to him and Kuroo gave him a serious look. “Rules are the same as always: one beer shot per minute for an hour. No chickening out. If one of us doesn’t finish we have to…” Kuroo paused, thinking, “call Daichi back early from his date.” 

Bokuto let out a low whistle. “I knew you were doing it on purpose.” 

Kuroo avoided his eyes and picked up his shot. “Ready for this?” 

Bokuto picked up his own shot and they linked arms and downed them in one go. 

Two hours and approximately sixty-four shots of beer later, Kuroo and Bokuto were sprawled out on the couch, Kuroo’s head on Bokuto’s stomach while Bokuto ran his fingers through his friend’s hair and listened to him complain. 

“This guy is clearly dangerous and he can’t even see it,” Kuroo exclaimed. “No, all he sees is some stupid smile and a beauty mark. I mean, really, he can’t be that pretty.” Bokuto nodded along, still running his fingers through Kuroo’s mess of hair. “He’s got some weird shit going on but all Daichi cares about is what he looks like. Which is dumb. I know him better than anybody and guys like that have never been his type. Daichi likes ‘em tall.” 

Bokuto had known Daichi for just as long as Kuroo had and he, along with everyone else in their year, had a bet going to see when Kuroo and Daichi would get together. Even Kiyoko had thought it would happen, but Daichi had never made a move. He was always more focused on his job; being the youngest samurai captain in decades was something he took a lot of pride in. 

“Hey man, just wait it out. Let the universe do it’s thing. Ya know, like fate,” Bokuto said, trying to derail Kuroo’s thoughts before he started crying or something. 

“What would you know about fate? You’re constantly messing around with literally anybody you think is hot,” Kuroo replied, sulkily. Bokuto rolled his eyes. Great, a Kuroo pity-party. 

“What has that got to do with fate?” 

“If you really thought fate was real, you’d be holding out for the right person,” Kuroo pointed out. 

Bokuto sat up abruptly, causing Kuroo to fall off the couch. 

“What the hell, dude?” 

Bokuto looked him dead in the eye. “Who says you have to become a monk just because you like someone? That’s bullshit. I can believe in fate and soul mates and all that sappy shit and still sleep around. Maybe I’m looking for my soul mate my own way. Don’t diss me for it.” His speech lost a little of its impact as he slurred through a few words, but the look on Kuroo’s face was enough to prove that he’d made his point. 

“I…” Kuroo tried to start. Bokuto gave him a hard look. “I’m sorry.” 

Bokuto nodded and stood up. When did bro nights get so serious? “I need another beer.” 

\---

“You’re a natural,” Kiyoko said quietly as she took in Yachi’s stance. When the apprentice had come to her a few weeks ago looking for longbow training Kiyoko had been more than willing to help and seeing the way Yachi’s face lit up with a sunny smile at every small compliment was more than enough payment for her time. 

Being Vice Captain of the samurai was a time consuming job and Kiyoko could feel it taking its toll on her body and mind. She was constantly wondering how Daichi managed to keep up such a solid and calm presence. Although, Kiyoko reminded herself, if him showing up to a patrol drunk was anything to go by, than the stress of the job was affecting him as well. 

She sighed and tried to focus her mind on the task at hand; Yachi had the bow drawn and was standing, ready to shoot at Kiyoko’s command. “Ready, aim… fire.” 

The arrow flew through the air and hit the target just shy of the center and Kiyoko stepped forward and placed her hand on Yachi’s arm, feeling the way lithe muscles beneath her fingertips, impressed. “Nicely done, Yachi.” 

“Thank you,” the apprentice stuttered out, eyes flicking back and forth between Kiyoko’s hand on her arm and her face. 

Kiyoko smiled softly and stepped a little closer, other hand coming up to press lightly on Yachi’s back as she leaned in closer to the younger girl. “Next time keep your back a little straighter and the arrow should fly true.” 

A deep blush had taken over Yachi’s face and Kiyoko had the strongest urge to simply lean in and press a kiss to her lips, but she held herself back. She had always had a knack for pulling herself away from a cliff and the girl in front of her was nothing but a drop. 

Falling in love was dangerous business for a samurai. It was a distraction and Yui reminded her time and time again that distractions in this line of work would get you killed. 

Kiyoko dropped her hands away from Yachi just in time to see her partner enter the archery range. Asahi scanned the room, eyes quick, until he saw the two of them. He sent her a nervous smile before motioning for Kiyoko to come over to him. She turned back to the apprentice and said, “It’s time Asahi and I were leaving for the next patrol. Let me know when you want to have our next lesson.” 

Yachi nodded, face roughly the color of a tomato, and Kiyoko stepped away from her and walked over to Asahi. Her partner was standing with his back against the wall and a nervous fidget in his stance. Kiyoko sighed. “Asahi, he’s not in here.” 

“He always seems to show up where I am. Maybe he saw me come in here,” Asahi answered, and he gave the room one more once over before he focused on Kiyoko. He’d been so nervous ever since one of the samurai’s police partners had cornered him one day and drilled him on the training of new samurai. At first it had seemed like Asahi was simply overreacting to a curious young officer, but as weeks went by and the officer continued to seek him out, Kiyoko started to believe that Asahi might have had the right of the situation. 

“He won’t come with us on patrol,” Kiyoko said to sooth her partner’s nerves and it seemed to work. Asahi’s back straightened out and his shoulders fell a bit as some of the tension left his body. Kiyoko took it as a good sign and changed the subject. “I’m sorry I made us late with this lesson.” 

Asahi looked over at Yachi, still practicing with the bow, and then back to Kiyoko to give her a gentle smile. “It’s not a problem.” 

She looked back over at Yachi before she made her way out of the practice room with Asahi walking just half a step behind her. Asahi was being kind but Kiyoko knew that whatever she had happening with Yachi was in fact, a real problem. She took a breath in and tried to push the other girl out her mind. Kiyoko was strong; she could fight off anything, even love. 

\---

Suga opened his eyes and took in the scene around him. A haunted hotel, of course. Kids these days were just so original. There was one bright spot among the faded and peeling wallpaper and mysteriously stained carpet: Daichi stood a couple of feet away from him in the same black t-shirt and cargo pants he’d come to Suga’s apartment in, but now there was a set of straps holding a pouch to the side of his leg. Suga skipped over to him happily and slipped his arm through Daichi’s, fully expecting him to push him away and was pleasantly surprised when all he did was pat Suga’s hand. 

“It’s always nice having someone come with me. What’s in the pouch thing?” Suga said. 

“Extra bullets,” Daichi answered. 

They had landed in the hotel’s lobby but a quick look around told Suga that the front doors were fake, the elevators were probably broken, and most importantly, there was a key missing from the rack on the back wall behind the front desk. He pointed it out to Daichi, knowing it was the best chance they had of finding the dreamer. 

Daichi leaned forward and squinted to look at the rack behind the wall, pulling away from Suga. “How the hell did you see that?” 

“If you’re looking for it, it’s easy to see. I’ve been doing this for a long time,” Suga replied with a shrug. “Now, we should get moving.” 

Daichi didn’t look completely convinced but he followed behind Suga as he led him through the hallways to the stairwell, only pausing to ask one question. “Which room was it?” 

“413,” Suga answered without missing a beat as he took the stairs two at a time. 

“Oh.” 

They climbed up to the fourth floor without another word and Suga spent the time thinking. He’d been dream walking for years; he may not have the knowledge of the samurai, but if he’d spent enough time walking through people’s nightmares that he knew the patterns in them. Nightmares (and dreams) were just like people. Everyone was a little different, but he could generally put them into categories. Nightmares like this one were straight out of traditional horror movies and they were the easiest to guess what was going to happen next. 

However, Daichi didn’t seem to have the same kind of knowledge of dreams and Suga wondered if he generally fought other kinds of monsters rather than nue. He’d asked about some of the monsters that the samurai usually fight and Daichi had told him about a few of them but he didn’t really go into detail about how they fight those monsters or, more importantly, how the samurai go about killing them. 

“So how often do you actually dream walk?” Suga asked as they made their way down the corridor. 

“Not that often. I’m only on so often this week because Yui has the flu,” Daichi replied. His eyes were sweeping the corridor, keeping watch, and while Suga appreciated the sentiment, he knew that the monster wasn’t going to come for them. It wasn’t their dream. 

They reached the room with the missing key but when Suga tried to open the door, he found it was locked. 

“Okay, let’s find the key. It’s probably in the basement,” he said brightly, turning to Daichi. The other man shook his head and motioned for Suga to back up. Suga took a couple of steps away and the next thing he knew Daichi leaned back and then surged forward, foot colliding with the door. The old wooden frame shook and the door splintered; Suga let out a low whistle. “Do that again.” One more kick was all it took for the door to give in Suga turned to Daichi, “Do you often break into places? Is it always that hot?” 

As they stepped over the threshold and into the room Suga noticed a faint blush on the back of Daichi’s neck. “The door looked like it was meant to be creepy, not strong,” Daichi muttered. 

The hotel room was standard in Suga’s eyes. Dark, moldy, poorly decorated, and most importantly, empty. “Where’s the dreamer?” Suga asked himself, looking around the room. “Suga,” Daichi hissed behind him, and Suga whipped around to find himself staring at another door, taller and sturdier than the first. 

“Okay, that definitely wasn’t there a second ago,” Suga murmured, following Daichi’s lead and keeping his voice low. He reached out a hand to test the door knob, secretly hoping he could see Daichi kick it in again, and was slightly disappointed when the handle turned and the door swung open. 

Inside the room a woman sat on the floor, face blank as a white mist poured from her open mouth and into the nue’s maw. The beast was easily one of the largest Suga had ever seen; the tiger like body of the nue was thick, its stomach swollen with the nightmares it had consumed, and the snake tail was gently swaying back and forth, mesmerizing the dreamer. 

Suga could see Daichi pull a gun out of thin air, but his concentration was solely on whipping out his slingshot and lining up his shot before letting the ball fly before Daichi got out a single shot. The ball of herbs flew straight into the nue’s open mouth and Suga felt an immense satisfaction as the beast choked it down and began to stiffen. By his side, Daichi was staring at the creature, a strange look on his face that Suga wrote off as him being impressed. 

“I’m a pretty good shot, aren’t I?” he bragged. 

“What did you shoot into it?” Daichi asked. Suga looked at him, a little upset that he didn’t sound more impressed. 

“It’s a mixture of anise and agrimony, stuffed into an acorn. I make them myself,” Suga explained, ready to give Daichi the properties of every single herb he’d named to make him understand just how great his sling shot was, but he didn’t get the chance. 

Daichi walked over to the petrified nue and called over his shoulder for Suga to check on the dreamer while he inspected it. Suga went over to the dreamer, grumbling a little, he didn’t even get a victory kiss after all, and he had to rearrange his face into something a little bit kinder before he shook her shoulder. 

“Miss? Are you okay?” She stirred after a moment, eyes blinking a few times as she focused on the scene in front of her. Suga asked if she was alright one more time before she nodded and began to close her eyes. Nue always left their victims exhausted if they managed to steal some of their dreams and Suga didn’t begrudge the poor woman her sleep. Instead he stood up just in time to see Daichi pull a long, thin sword out of the air, its blade sparkling with what looked like electricity. 

“What’re you doing?” Suga asked, keeping clear of the sword as Daichi swung it through the air and in one clean stroke chopped through the nue’s neck. His eyes widened as the beast dissolved into a shimmering golden mist and the room around them disappeared as well. A second later they were standing in an open field, flowers sprinkled throughout the grass. Suga heard the dreamer sigh behind him and he turned in time to see her face settled into a gentle smile. Daichi’s sword disappeared and he walked over to a very confused Suga. “Seriously, what did you do?” 

“I banished it,” Daichi answered, refusing to meet his eyes. 

“Okay, you banished it. What does that mean? I thought I’d already killed it.” Suga didn't really get what was going on. Daichi looked at him then, and in his face Suga saw a mixture of confusion and guilt. “What’s wrong?” 

“Look Suga, I’m not really sure what you did to it but you didn’t kill it. They have to be banished,” Daichi said slowly, like he was choosing each of his words with care. 

Suga wasn’t really sure what Daichi was so concerned about. Sure, he hadn’t made the nue dissolve into golden sparkles, but he’d definitely taken care of the monster. Maybe it was just two different ways of killing the beasts, just like they had two different ways to enter the Dream World. “It turned to stone. That’s pretty dead to me,” he said, frustrated. 

Daichi was silent, clearly thinking through the situation and Suga gave him the time he needed to finish puzzling out what had happened. He was rewarded when Daichi sighed and stood up a little straighter. “I guess petrified is pretty much dead.” 

Suga nodded encouragingly, letting a smile begin to make its way onto his face. “So then we won, right?” 

Daichi laughed and nodded. His serious expression from before melted away to form the smile Suga was starting to really like. It made Suga’s own smile widened and he walked up to Daichi and locked his arms around the taller man’s neck. “So does that mean I get a victory kiss?” 

Daichi pulled him closer, hands on Suga’s waist and tilted his head down to press his lips against Suga’s lips for a brief second before he pulled away again, a smirk on his lips. “Not in front of the dreamer, Suga.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello friends! so last chapter was the end of the chapter's i'd had prewritten. now updates probably won't be every week but i'll try to make them every weeks. anyway, thank you fo the kudos and comments!! i know this story is kind of unknown but it makes me so happy to read y'all's comments, no matter how long or short they are. so again, thank you and please enjoy!
> 
> also, come bother me on tumblr: bicyclestandard.tumblr.com


	7. In Which Things Take a Turn For the Worse

Yachi was having a good day; it felt like the kind of day where she could do anything. Her senses were sharper, her movements were more fluid, and all of Asahi’s attacks seemed like they were coming at her in slow motion. She ducked away from another one of his swings and she could see the unintentional opening on his left side so she went for it and managed to land a blow on the large man. 

“Yachi, that was great,” Asahi complimented her as she skipped away and the two went back to circling each other. “But I still had time to move back so it didn’t hit me full power. Try it again.” She nodded, already watching his chest for hints of his next move. 

Being an apprentice samurai was hard work and Yachi rarely had much free time but even when she had a moment to herself, she couldn’t help but continue to practice. It was Bokuto’s night off but Asahi had been kind enough to spar with her. Both him and Kiyoko were always willing to help Yachi with her fighting and she had no idea how to repay their kindness other than to work as hard as she could to become a good samurai. After everything the samurai had done for her, she felt that she owed them all so much more than that but it was all she had to offer. 

Asahi struck out suddenly and Yachi moved forward to parry the blow with her fan, moving to the side as well to lessen the impact of his practice sword. The force behind the attack was still enough to make her grit her teeth. When they’d first begun practicing together two years ago Asahi had treated her like she was made of glass, and it took months of working together he had seen that Yachi was strong enough to take his hits. To be fair, Yachi knew that she didn’t look particularly strong. She wasn’t big or tough looking like Bokuto or the captain and she didn’t have an intimidating presence like Kuroo or Kiyoko, but Yachi was a fighter. Every time she was knocked down she got right back up and over time her body became more durable. 

“Nue, go,” Asahi commanded, nearly breaking her concentration as his fist swung towards her shoulder. Yachi ducked away from the attack and tried for a counter attack to his wrist before she answered him. 

“Nue: first spotted during Japan’s Heian Period, head of a monkey, body of a tiger, serpent tail, consume dreams and leave their victims with terminal illnesses. Most often encountered in the Dream World but can take form in the Waking World as well,” Yachi recited the well worn words and blocked another of Asahi’s swings. He’d taken to quizzing her occasionally and she’d welcomed another opportunity to study. 

Asahi nodded. “Kumo yokai, go.” 

Yachi dodged another move and answered his prompt. The samurai had given her everything; it was time for her to start giving back. 

\---

“You owe me,” Suga pleaded into the phone. 

Tooru sighed on the other end. “Aren’t you supposed to use favors like this for when you’re sick or something?” 

“Tooru, I haven’t gotten laid in forever; it’s basically an illness at this point,” Suga pointed out and unsurprisingly, Tooru agreed with him. 

“Alright, I’ll take tonight but only because I’m the perfect example of a selfless friend.” 

Suga let out a breath, relief flooding his body. “Thank you so much.” 

Not even a goodbye and Tooru hung up. 

Well, it was better than before. He’d made plans to be alone with Daichi again, well and truly alone, and Daichi had called into work to explain that he was definitely not, under any circumstances, coming in tonight. Suga was so ready. They’d been going on dates for nearly a month now and after how well the dream date had gone, Suga had high hopes. 

The only hitch in his plan had been when Kenma reminded him that it was his night to dream walk. Suga had panicked and called Tooru, praying he’d answer the phone. His best friend hadn’t been avoiding him as much as before, not with all of the new information Suga was learning about the samurai, but he was still distant. Suga had prepared himself to blackmail Iwaizumi into making Tooru help but the other man had been surprisingly helpful even without coercion. Suga was a little suspicious but there was no way he was going to say anything that might change Tooru’s mind. 

A couple of hours later Suga checked himself out in the mirror one last time, tugging on his white button up and refolding the sleeves, when there was a knock on his door. Show time. 

He walked into his front hall and took a deep breath before putting on his best smile and letting Daichi into the apartment. His boyfriend managed to take about three steps in before he was shoved back against the closed door, Suga’s lips already on top of Daichi’s. It didn’t take long for the other man to take the hint and after only a moment Daichi was kissing Suga back while his hands made their way to Suga’s waist, pulling him in closer. 

Suga hummed against Daichi’s lips and tightened his grip on his shirt as he opened his mouth to Daichi’s tongue. Kissing upright was one of Suga’s all time favorite activities and Daichi always did this great thing where he’d pull Suga flush against him and run his hands from Suga’s back all the way down to the bottom of his ass. Suga encouraged him, letting out a moan as Daichi squeezed, just a little. He thought things were going well, very well actually, but after a minute Daichi pushed Suga just a little bit away. 

“Sorry, I just, uh, what’d to talk to you about something for a second?” Daichi asked, panting. Suga was a little annoyed that their make out session had been cut short but Daichi’s expression told him it was something he’d been thinking about for a while. He looked nervous, eyes darting back and forth between Suga’s face and the wall behind him. 

Suga sighed and leaned back in, settling his face in the crook of Daichi’s neck. “What do you want to talk about?” he asked in between pressing kisses to his jaw. 

“We’ve been going on dates and stuff for, uh, a while now,” Daichi’s voice cracked as Suga left his jaw and moved down to deliver little bites along his collar bones. “I was wondering if, ah, you wanted to maybe be my boyfriend?” 

Suga paused and looked up at Daichi. “Like your boyfriend, boyfriend? Like official and everything?” Daichi nodded; Suga sucked in a breath. “I have one condition,” he said, leaning back in to press a kiss the shell of Daichi’s ear. “You have to actually put me in your phone as the man of my dreams. Deal?” 

Daichi let out a laugh and tugged Suga’s shirt to get him to face him before he planted a kiss on Suga’s lips. “God you’re so cheesy but deal. Definitely a deal.” Suga smiled into the kiss and within seconds they were back to wet open mouthed kisses moving along Daichi’s neck. Suga loved how much sound Daichi made as he worked his neck, loved feeling the way Daichi’s skin vibrated beneath his lips. He kept teasing the other man, hoping to get a bigger reaction out of him and was not disappointed. Daichi’s hands dipped underneath Suga’s shirt, pushing it up a bit, and before Suga knew it, they had slid into his jeans. 

Daichi massaged his ass, pulling him closer as he sought out Suga’s lips. Suga, on the other hand, was debating whether or not he wanted his first time with Daichi to be pressed against his front door. That option got points for sexiness and when he realized that he’d also have to pressed against a wooden door sounds broadcasted for all of his neighbors to hear, Suga felt his cock twitch. The only major con was the fact that he’d probably be shoved against a door and at that thought Suga pulled away. 

“How about we take this to the bedroom?” he asked, trying to smirk but his uneven breaths managed to ruin the expression he’d been going for. Daichi pulled his hands out of Suga’s jeans and turned his boyfriend around, giving his ass a slap, and telling him to lead the way. Suga jumped a bit at the tap, a laugh spilling from his mouth as he grabbed for Daichi’s hand, leading him further into the apartment. 

Once they’d gotten to Suga’s bedroom, he turned to face Daichi, backing up a step for each of Daichi’s steps forward. When his knees hit the bed Suga didn’t even try to keep himself from dropping down onto the mattress. Daichi stood above him, between his open legs, and was unbuttoning his shirt while Suga rushed to do the same. Despite his late start Suga still managed to get his shirt off before Daichi and while the other man was struggling, Suga sat up to undo Daichi’s belt, fingers shaking in anticipation. 

He’d always loved sex, loved the feeling of having someone so close to him, loved the euphoria that he felt before, during, and after the moment, but he’d gotten old enough to want more than drunk, one night stands. A proper boyfriend was new and welcome territory. 

Daichi finally got his shirt off and reached down to help Suga with his belt and pants. Suga moved his hands away so he could shimmy out of his own jeans and when both men were left in only their boxers they paused for a second. Suga was looking at Daichi's body, a hungry look in his eyes and Daichi took Suga's chin in his hand, tilting his face away from his crotch and up to meet his eyes. "You're okay with this?" 

"Daichi, are you ser-" Suga started. 

"Yeah. I'm serious," Daichi interrupted. 

Suga sighed. "I'm so, so okay with this. Like, I don't think I could be more okay with this, with you," he said emphatically. 

Daichi rolled his eyes. "Laying on the cheese tonight, Suga." 

Suga smirked. "Got the point across." He grabbed Daichi's hands and pulled him forward, onto the the bed and on top of Suga. Daichi chuckled a little and braced himself on his arms so he could kiss him properly. Suga opened his mouth almost immediately, pushing his tongue into Daichi's mouth. Daichi moaned and Suga snuck a hand between the two of them to cup Daichi's growing erection through his boxers. 

As soon as he felt Suga's hand on him Daichi broke away from their kiss and began to press open mouth kisses to Suga neck and down to his collarbone. Suga was panting and his other hand came up to try to grip at the short strands of Daichi's hair as his kisses turned into small bites. Suga knew he'd be littered with hickies the next morning, not exactly the most professional way to show up to work, but he couldn't find it in him to care. His neck had always been a sensitive spot and Daichi was hitting it in all the right places. 

After a minute Daichi moved his way down from Suga's neck, leaving little marks on his collar bones while his one of his hands came up to toy with Suga's nipples. Suga was having trouble remembering to breathe, mind taken over by the sight, the sounds, the overwhelming feeling of Daichi; he let himself go and enjoyed every second of it. The moment he'd seen the samurai, Suga had imagined having sex with him but this was turning out even better than he'd thought it would. 

Daichi finally made it down to Suga's boxers and he hooked his fingers around them and paused, face in line with Suga's crotch, and looked up at the other man. Suga sucked in a breath and lifted his hips off the bed so Daichi could pull down his underwear in one fluid motion. He wasn't fully hard yet but as Daichi licked a broad stripe up the length of his cock, Suga could feel himself getting there. HIs hand that wasn't on the back of Daichi's head was gripping the sheets tightly and he didn't even try to hold in his moan when Daichi sucked on the head of his cock, tonguing the slit. He was definitely hard now and with every motion of Daichi's tongue precum spilled out of the head of his dick. 

When Daichi took him into his mouth, hand coming up to cover what he couldn't with his mouth, Suga had to resist the urge to thrust up into the warmth and wetness. "Daichi..." The other man hummed around Suga's dick and the vibrations had him pressing the edge of his orgasm. "Daichi... Daichi, wait, I'm going to," Suga let out another moan as Daichi bobbed his head, taking Suga in as deep as he could. 

Daichi came off of him with a sinful pop and pressed a kiss to his head, prepping to take him back in. Suga was so close, and he vaguely knew that he was chanting praises to Daichi as he approached his orgasm but just before he could get off the shrill sound of a telephone ringing filled the air. 

Daichi froze for a second. 

“Ignore it. Please, ignore it,” Suga begged him. 

“That's Akaashi’s ringtone,” Daichi said, eyes trained on his pants on the floor of Suga’s bedroom. 

“Who the fuck is Akaashi?” Suga whined. He was so hard it hurt. 

“My boss,” Daichi answered, apologies written all over his face as he slid off the bed and bent down to find his phone. Suga groaned and fell back onto his pillows, frustration seeping into his every pore. 

Daichi fumbled the phone up to his ear, answering the call with a terse greeting, and Suga got an idea. Daichi was facing the wall of the bedroom, turned away so he couldn't see Suga as he rolled to the side of the bed and opened his bedside table drawer with as much sound as he possibly could make. Daichi’s eyes flicked over to his boyfriend and Suga could see the exact moment when Daichi realized what was going on. 

Suga poured lube over a few of his fingers, warming it up as much as he could before he reached behind himself and rubbed a finger against his puckered hole. Daichi’s jaw dropped. Suga let out a moan as he slid the first finger inside of himself. 

Sure, he was playing dirty, it wasn’t like Daichi had planned for his boss to call him, but Suga needed to get off and he wanted Daichi to be the one to make it happen. 

His plan was working well, Daichi’s face was getting redder by the second, and Suga had thought that he was going to win when all of the sudden Daichi’s eyes snapped away from him and he yelled, “What?” 

Suga sat up, shocked to see Daichi so riled up, and he was wondering whether or not he should ask the samurai what was going on when Daichi set the phone down and put it on speaker while he began throwing on his clothes. 

“They’re attacking the enter lower east side of the city,” said a voice Suga assumed was Akaashi. “Their numbers are massive; I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many monsters working together.” Suga paled, all thoughts of sex flew from his mind as he realized what was going on. Monsters, a huge number of monsters apparently, were attacking the city. 

“Shit,” Daichi said, struggling to button up his shirt, frustration and nerves making his fingers clumsy. Suga stood up and walked over to him, silently helping him unbutton the shirt again. Daichi looked at him, about to snap at him that it wasn’t the time for this when Suga looked up at him. 

“It’s hard to fight in a button up.” 

Daichi looked back down, an apology on the tip of his tongue. Suga just shook his head and stood up to press a kiss to his cheek. He then moved away and began looking for his own clothes, leaving Daichi to talk to Akaashi. 

“Sawamura, you still there?” 

“Yeah, I’m here. Please tell me you’re somewhere safe,” Daichi responded. 

“I’m with Komi and Kageyama and their apprentices along with Yachi near the stadium. Asahi and Kiyoko are the closest to your position but they’re going to need help. There’s a mass headed your way,” Akaashi said. 

“Where’re Kuroo and Bokuto? Why isn’t Bo with Yachi? What about Yaku, Futakuchi, Washiro, and Konoha? Where is everybody?” Daichi demanded, now as dressed as he was going to get. Suga watched as he flicked his wrist and his shot pouch appeared in his hand. 

“We’re spread thin over the entire area, Captain. Kuroo and Bokuto are downtown, on Fourth St., where the fighting is the thickest along with Konoha and Suzumeda. I suggest you assist Kiyoko’s team before moving on to find your partner.” 

“Akaashi, you know I can’t do that.” 

“We don’t need you here; what we need is a rinse. We’re fine here.” The sound of an explosion came through the mic of the phone and Suga paled. It certainly didn’t sound fine. 

“Find Kuroo, that’s an order!” Akaashi shouted into the phone just as the call dropped. Suga turned to look at Daichi, pouch strapped on, revolver in his hand. 

Daichi’s eyes flicked over to Suga. “Stay here.” 

Suga started, “Like hell I’ll stay here. I can help!” 

In one motion Daichi crossed the room. “Stay here, please.” Before Suga could argue back, Daichi crushed his lips against Suga’s, bruising force used to get across the point he couldn’t put into words. When he pulled away from the stunned Suga he repeated his plea. “Please.” 

Suga couldn’t respond until Daichi was already gone. 

“I can’t.” 

\---

Daichi rushed out of Suga’s apartment, doing his best to ignore the tugging feeling in his gut. There’d never been such a large attack since he’d joined the samurai all of those years ago. The moment he’d heard Akaashi’s personal ringtone, he’d had a horrible feeling that something awful was happening and as Daichi stepped out of Suga’s apartment building he knew his feeling had been right. 

The air was thick with magic and Daichi was glad that Yui was doing her job as he saw two oni lumber down the street clubs in hand. He had a bullet buried between the first one’s eyes before it even noticed he was there. The second oni had the sense to throw up a barrier before Daichi had the chance to aim so snapped his fingers and the revolver changed into his katana, blade shining with the blessing he’d carved into the metal. 

The beast charged, barrier still in place and Daichi stood his ground, waiting for the best possible moment to sidestep the monster, twisting his torso in order to land a blow on the creature’s back. The oni, roared, the sound echoing off the empty street and Daichi sent up another prayer that Yui’s magic would hold and keep the civilians indoors. The last thing he needed was for curious humans to flock to the streets, wondering what was going on. 

The oni made to charge again and this time Daichi switched his stance and met it head on, sword biting into the monster’s arm. The oni roared again as the blessed metal did its work and in a flash Daichi pulled the sword out to swing clean through the oni’s neck, severing its head. The oni dissolved into the fine gold dust he’d become accustomed to and Daichi turned around, looking down the direction the monsters had come from. Akaashi had said the fighting was the thickest downtown but he’d also mentioned that Asahi and Kiyoko would need help. 

Daichi took a deep breath. His first priority should be Akaashi, he knew it should be, but if Asahi and Kiyoko were pushed back…. Well, they were in Suga’s neighborhood. 

“Trying to figure out where to go from here? Or worried about Suga? I can’t tell,” said a voice from behind him. Daichi whirled around, gun at the ready, and faced two men, one with a long overcoat and one in a police officer’s uniform, both holding silver guns. Even from far away Daichi could tell they were blessed weapons and he was quick to put two and two together. 

“Oikawa Tooru?” he asked, not lowering his weapon. 

“At your service,” replied the taller of the two men, sweeping into a mock bow, his overcoat flowing behind him. Daichi noted the twin pistols in his hands were aimed at the ground. Oikawa saw him looking at the weapons, he holstered one of the guns to run a hand through his brown hair, sweeping it up and out of his eyes as he surveyed the scene around him. “Your two friends will be here any minute. We can stick around and help them out; you look like there’s somewhere you need to be.” 

Daichi looked the two men up and down but before he could make a decision, four kumo yokai raced down the street, spider legs scuttling across the asphalt ask they avoided the arrows raining down on them. Immediately Daichi took aim and shot as soon as the first creature came into his range. He wasn’t shocked to hear two more shots ring out after his own but he was surprised to see two of the monsters go down. He’d expected Oikawa and his friend to shoot but he hadn’t counted on them actually hitting their targets. 

The last kumo yokai attempted to turn back the way it had come when an arrow pierced its throat and the spider demon dissolved. Kiyoko stepped into the street a second later, tears in her pants and rips in her flowing cape, bow in hand, Asahi on her heels, and with the two of them at his back, Daichi turned back to Oikawa and the police officer. 

“So you’re Suga’s partner?” 

Oikawa nodded, “And you’re Suga’s hot dreamer.”

Daichi gave him a sharp look before his gaze slid over to the shorter man beside him. The officer looked him in the eye and said, “Iwazumi Hajime. I’m an old friend of the two of them.” 

“Captain…” Kiyoko said behind him and even without her voicing her concerns, Daichi knew that his vice captain was wondering if they could trust the two men in front of him. Shit, he was questioning the same thing. Another explosion sounded in the distance and Daichi realized that he was going to have to trust Oikawa and Iwaizumi for the time being. 

Daichi squared his shoulders and put on his best captain voice as he said, “Right, Oikawa, Iwaizumi, please defer to Vice Captain Kiyoko and defend this section of the city.” He turned to the side to address his samurai, noting Asahi’s nervous fidgeting and his sweat soaked armor. “Asahi, Kiyoko, do your best to defend this position; the noble said there was a mass coming this way. I’m headed towards the center of the fighting to find Kuroo.” 

Kiyoko pushed her glasses up and gave him a brisk nod and Daichi knew there was no one better to keep an eye on the Dream Doctor and his partner. Kiyoko put a hand on Asahi’s arm. “You can count on us, sir.” 

Daichi nodded back and took off for downtown, hoping he’d made the right call. 

\---

Yachi completed her last turn, war fan carving ribbons into the odd nue she’d been fighting. She stood up from her crouch and panted as she looked around her. Hinata and Kageyama were finishing off the last nue from the wave they’d just faced and Yachi watched as Hinata’s war axe bit into the monster’s shoulder while Kageyama drove his spear into its chest. Yachi marveled at their teamwork and for a second she wished she could run off to find her own mentor. Fighting without Bokuto at her side was more taxing than she’d thought it would be and she missed having his strength to back her up. 

The strange, all black nue had surprised them at first but once the samurai realized that they could be killed just like the normal nue, they’d taken control of the situation. Hinata and Kageyama were a whirlwind pair; they moved around the battle field using quick strikes and distractions to take out their enemies. They were the epitome of samurai synergy. 

It only made Yachi miss Bokuto even more. 

With the nue Kageyama and Hinata had taken out turned to dust, the area was clear for the time being. Yachi jogged over to the small structure they’d constructed as a barricade to check on Akaashi. He stood, back to the barricade, pistol in hand, and despite his torn suit jacket and the dust covering his black slacks, Akaashi still managed to look regal as he scanned the area for any approaching monsters. 

“Sir, the area is secure for now. Did you succeed in getting ahold of the Captain? Do you have any other orders for us?” Yachi asked, standing in the attention stance, arms crossed behind her back. Technically Kageyama was the highest in rank of the samurai here and thus he should be the one to approach Akaashi but the older samurai had confessed to Yachi that he found Akaashi’s sharp eyes unsettling and that he had a hard time communicating with the noble. Yachi took it upon herself to be the bridge between the two men; it wouldn’t do to have them both anxious on the battle field. 

“I managed to reach Captain Sawamura; he’s headed towards the thick of the fighting to reunite with Kuroo. If we need reinforcements let me know and I’ll send word. As for orders, tell Hinata to save those explosives for something big. We’ve seen that his war axe is enough to deal with the nue; no need to waste the bombs on the smaller monsters. Also please tell Komi and Yukie to come in closer to the barricade. We’re trying to maintain ground, not gain it,” Akaashi replied, voice calm and collected. 

Yachi nodded and bowed before she ran off to go find Hinata and Kageyama and relay Akaashi’s message. The monsters had been coming in waves so far and she dreaded the idea of another round of fighting. She could tell the entire group was exhausted but they continued to fight bravely, as a samurai should, and Yachi felt her heart swell with pride as Hinata nodded at her instructions from Akaashi, tying a quick bandage around the cut on his arm. He was the newest samurai recruit in the program and had been taken in as a special case because of his age but even the newest of the samurai knew the importance of their work. 

“Think of the people you need to see,” Hinata muttered to himself. Yachi heard him and smiled; it was a better mantra than most. 

She took a breath and prepared for the next wave. She was strong and she was ready and she had a certain lady she needed to ask out when this was all over. 

However, as the next wave descended on them, every time she felt like they were making some progress, Yachi turned and saw even more monsters appear at the entrance to the street. It was a constant onslaught and it was wearing at her both physically and emotionally. She panted and fixed her stance, giving herself a moment to rest before the next wave approached. A quick survey of the group showed her that Kageyama was at the ready, protecting his apprentice while Hinata cut strips from a shirt to bandage up his bleeding calf. Yukie stood watch as Komi was jogging over to where Akaashi sat, reloading his gun with his last set of bullets. Yachi took a breath. 

The odds were against them to say the least but she refused to give up hope. They only had to hold out until the Captain and Kuroo could set off a rinse. Yachi knew it was close to happening; magic had been gathering in a spot to the north for a while now. 

"Yachi," a voice called behind her and she jumped and turned, trying her best to stand up straight. 

"Yes sir?" 

Akaashi walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You have to take the misdirection spell of off me." 

Yachi swallowed hard. "Sir, I don't think-"

"That's an order Yachi. It's too draining on you," Akaashi interrupted.  Yachi nodded and mumbled a few words under her breath and the spell faded away. She immediately felt a small amount of relief at the loss of tension but Yachi was worried about Akaashi. He was the Noble, the head of their organization, and if he was killed- well, it wouldn't be good. 

"New wave on the way!" Hinata called out from their right. Akaashi turned and walked back to his position against the barricade and Yachi faced forward, drawing in a breath to calm her racing heart. 

Killing monsters was second nature to her at this point but the strain of protecting the Noble was weighing on her. She only had a couple of moments before the wave was on them and she used them to send a prayer up to any god that was listening. When she opened her eyes again the first monsters had begun to cross their line of defense. Yachi sprung into action, fan spinning as she took down monster after monster, occasionally throwing in the few of the punches and kicks that Bokuto had taught her. 

At first it seemed like they were holding their own. Very few monsters were making it through their line and the ones that did were promptly taken out by Akaashi's gun. Yachi felt her heart lift as the group worked seamlessly together, defeating monsters like a dance they'd rehearsed hundreds of times before. She smiled, slicing through an oni's neck, when a sudden scream caught her off balance and she had to twist to keep herself upright. 

Yachi swung her head from one side to the other, looking for the source of the scream. Her eyes widened at the sight of Yukie laying on the ground, face white as a sheet, clutching her leg. The limb was bent at an impossible angle and even from so far away, Yachi could tell it was broken. 

From there it seemed like the spell was broken. Hinata was the next to go down, hindered by the wound he'd gotten earlier. Kageyama's face was strained as he continued to fight hard enough to buy his apprentice time to crawl back to Akaashi's position. 

Komi was everywhere; he fought like a wild cat, the bronze claws he wore on his finger tips ripped through the enemies surrounding him as protected his apprentice. Yukie was fighting from the ground, ignoring her broken leg, her hand cannon taking down a monster each time she fired. 

Yachi could see how hard her companions were fighting as she moved through the battle field like a hurricane, covering the spots that had been left empty. She didn't give herself time to think about anything other than the fight around her and when Kageyama was knocked to the ground by an oni's fist, she didn't even pause before she dove forward to block the beast's arm with her fan. 

"Yachi!" 

Yachi saw the scene in slow motion, her leg muscles pushed to the brink as she forced her body to get there in time, the oni's arm coming down with its club held tight in its fist, her own arm throwing up her fan in hopes that she could block the blow, and then an excruciating pain bloomed in her right shoulder and she crumpled to the ground. Her body was in shock, unable to move or think beyond the waves of agony wracking her body. With the last of her strength Yachi dredged up what little of her magic was left and let it flow through her veins to her shoulder, numbing it as much as she could. It worked for a moment until she felt the last of her magic dry up and when the pain returned, her world went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's taken me so long to get this up. life is getting hard and it's kind of wearing on me. but it means so much to me that there are people out there that are reading my fic and enjoying it. thank you all so much
> 
> come visit me on tumblr bicyclestandard.tumblr.com


	8. In Which There Are Two Kinds of Battles

Suga threw open the door to his apartment building and ran straight into the solid back of Iwaizumi Hajime. Suga stumbled back in surprise and realized that his friend was in full uniform and was picking his shots carefully. Beasts were crawling up and down the street and Suga felt a flash of fear as he took in the monstrous spiders and large ogre type creatures that Iwaizumi was shooting. A glance further down the road revealed Oikawa was also in the fray, long coat billowing around him like an action hero as he stood beside a woman dressed in all black firing a large bow and arrow. Another man with gloves and a gigantic sword fought the beasts head on while the other three members of the party shot from afar. 

He took a breath to steady his nerves and plunged his hand into the shot bag at his hip to begin loading his slingshot. Daichi’s boss had mentioned nue were part of the attack force and Suga figured that the samurai could use all the help they could get. 

“Suga, get back inside,” Iwaizumi called over his shoulder and Suga jerked at the sound of his name. 

“I can help,” Suga replied, stepping up next to his friend. He could see more monsters coming down the street and his heartbeat quickened when he recognized the form of a nue. He’d never fought them in the waking world but Suga figured now was a good time to see how he fared. 

One nue leapt ahead of the pack and came barreling down the street, jaws open in a roar. Suga’s tongue poked out of his mouth as he took aim and a second later his shot flew through the air and smacked the nue on the nose. It only roared a second time and continued its charge but Suga sent another shot into its throat and watched in satisfaction as it turned black. 

He felt a rush of satisfaction and loaded another shot but when he looked back up, Suga’s stomach dropped. The nue had turned completely black but it had yet to stop moving. The creature rushed onward, apparently no worse for wear and at Suga’s scream, Iwaizumi turned and shot the creature just before it could reach the two of them. Suga’s eyes widened as the nue dissolved into beautiful golden dust and his mind went back to the night he and Daichi had gone dream walking together. 

_“Look Suga, I’m not really sure what you did to it but you didn’t kill it. They have to be banished.”_

All of the sudden Suga felt himself curl in, his throat felt choked and it was like a great weight was forcing him down. A sudden panic shouted at him from his own mind; people were hurt, dying, because he hadn’t actually killed any nue. He’d done absolutely nothing. In fact, he probably made it worse. There were so many more black nue than there where normal ones; they’d probably avoided detection by the samurai because of something he’d done. 

The world around him began to swim and Suga could feel himself stumbling backwards until his back was pressed against the wall behind him. His lungs were begging for air but he couldn’t find a way to get air around the horror of what he’d done He tried to pull in a breath, anything to bring some air into his screaming lungs, but he couldn’t bring it into himself without the panic raising up against him. The little remaining air in his lungs burst out of him in a choking sob and Suga’s vision began to darken at the edges. 

He had no idea what was going on around him, he could only focus on the emotions flooding his system, and he started violently when a hand reached down to pat him on the shoulder. There was a sound of surprise and a voice said, 

“Not like that Iwa-chan. Go back to fighting; I can handle this.” 

Even in his current state he could recognize Oikawa’s voice and it pulled him away for the edge just enough to allow him to suck in a small breath of air. 

“You’re doing great, Suga-chan.” An old nickname, one he hadn’t heard in a long time. He used to get so annoyed when Oikawa called him that; it sounded like he was a little doll. Now it sounded more like a lifeline. 

“Take another breath.” Oikawa’s voice was soft and soothing, with just enough volume for Suga to hear it. He focused on that voice, on the sound of his oldest friend comforting him just he had when they were younger. That voice was like coming home. 

Another shaky breath coursed through Suga’s body and his head began to clear enough for him to hear the sounds of the battle raging around him. He lifted him hands from over his head, unsure of exactly when they’d gotten there, and tried to look around him, only to feel the panic begin to rise again as the large man with the equally large sword was thrown back into the building wall with a sickening crunch. 

“Not yet, Suga-chan. Give yourself a little more time. Think of happier places and happier times.” Oikawa had started rubbing circles onto his shoulder and Suga tried to do what Oikawa had suggested. His first thought was of Daichi, his strong arms and kind smile, and Suga almost began to feel better when he remembered that Daichi was out there, somewhere, fighting to protect the city. Another sob wracked his frame. 

“Can’t think of anything? Alright well, how about that one time that we convinced Chibi-chan that Kenma wanted to go out on Halloween dressed up as cats? He showed up full cat costume and Ken-chan slammed the door in his face! Though I’m pretty sure he was blushing. Or remember the time we went to that party in the underground bar? You dressed up with all of that glow in the dark paint swirling around your shoulders; I’m pretty sure neither Ken-chan or I could take our eyes off you that night. That was wild…”

Suga focused on Oikawa’s voice and his stories of their past, grabbing hold of something safe while his world felt like it was falling down around him. 

\---

The scene downtown was even worse than Daichi had imagined. There were monsters crawling all over the streets, and the samurai fighting in the area where scattered. Daichi ran through the streets, searching for Kuroo, but before he found his partner he passed Bokuto. 

Daichi stopped for a second to watch as Bokuto slammed his fist into the oni’s face, breaking through the magic barrier the creature had created for itself, and causing the monster to dissolve into fine gold powder. “Nicely done,” Daichi called. 

Bokuto spun around and his face broke into a wide smile when he saw Daichi. The samurai was bleeding from half a dozen cuts on his bare arms and rips in his army pants showed wounds littering his thighs as well. “Captain, I’m so glad you’re here. We’ve got to end this.” 

“I know,” Daichi said with a nod. “Where’s Kuroo?” 

“Further down the street with Konoha,” Bokuto answered, jerking his head in the right direction. Daichi turned to head in the direction Bokuto had indicated when Bokuto reached out a hand to stop him. “Wait, Captain, have you heard anything about Yachi? Or Akaashi? Where are they? Are they safe?” 

Daichi turned back to face him and put on a sunny smile. “Akaashi gave me a call earlier. He’s with Yachi, Kageyama, Hinata, and Komi. I’m sure she’s okay.” 

He didn’t mention the explosions in the background of the call or the way Akaashi’s voice had sounded the most unsettled he’d ever heard it. There was no sense in making Bokuto panic. 

“Can I go to them?” Bokuto asked, a pleading look in his eyes. 

Daichi thought about it for a moment. Bokuto was an exceptional fighter and when he was with Yachi they were even stronger and he knew that the young mentor was worried about his apprentice. However, the rinse would attract the nearby monsters like bees to honey and Daichi wasn’t sure he’d be able to protect Kuroo through the process with only Konoha, Suzumeda, and himself. “I know you want to go to her but I need you here, Bokuto. The rinse is our best chance of people surviving this battle.” 

“But-“

“I’m sorry,” Daichi cut him off, “but you know I wouldn’t ask this of you unless I thought it was absolutely necessary.” 

Bokuto was still for a moment before he nodded. Daichi felt a weight lift off of his shoulders as the other man simply turned and sprinted off down the street in search of Kuroo. Bokuto was a huge asset to have and with him by their side, Daichi felt like their chances of pulling off a rinse were significantly higher. He took a breath in through his nose and followed the other man, sure to keep an eye out for his partner. 

Going through the streets with Bokuto by his side was much easier than when he’d been alone. The other samurai was a powerhouse in all respects, smashing his way through the monsters lumbering down the streets that managed to avoid Daichi ‘s revolver. He’d worked with Bokuto before on multiple occasions but Daichi was always shocked at how strong the other man actually was. 

Still, he had nothing on Daichi and Kuroo. 

Rounding the corner at the end of the street revealed a lone figure facing down a large wani. The creature’s scales glinted in the lamp light as the monstrous crocodile spread its wings in an attempt to seem more threatening as it let out a hiss. Daichi recognized the figure of his partner just as the monster reared its head back to strike. In a flash Kuroo had ducked underneath the monster’s massive jaws and buried his hunting knife deep into the wani’s neck, where it’s hide was the most vulnerable. It let out one final scream before the blessed metal turned it into dust. 

Kuroo stood up slowly and when Bokuto called his name, Daichi’s partner looked over at the two of them with a slight smirk and began limping over to them. “Took you long enough. Where’ve you been Daichi?” 

“I was across town when I got the call,” Daichi explained, making his way over to his partner, still on high alert for more monsters. Thankfully, it looked like they’d have a break for the moment. He turned back to Kuroo and let out a low whistle. Kuroo’s right arm was a mottled purple color, his entire upper arm was a mess of bruising. He had a cut on his forehead that was probably going to start bleeding into his eyes and Daichi called up what little healing magic that he knew and held his hand over the cut. Kuroo didn’t even flinch, just sighed as a deep green light emitted from Daichi’s hand and caused the gash to scab over. 

“Thanks Dai,” Kuroo said, eyes closing a little as he felt the magic seep into his tired body. “I know healing magic is hard for you but it feels so amazing. I think you’ve gotten better at it.” 

“You’d think with all the magic I’ve got I’d be able to fully heal a little scratch,” Daichi grumbled as he pulled his hand away and saw that the slash had only scabbed over. “Speaking of which, Akaashi’s expecting a rinse.” 

Kuroo opened his eyes again and nodded. “If that’s what it takes. Let’s find Konoha.” 

It only took a few minutes for the three of them to find Konoha and his apprentice Suzumeda and explain the plan. Bokuto stood to the side of the group, bouncing on his toes, eager to set the plan in motion. 

“More are headed this way,” Suzumeda commented as they discussed where the best place to set up was. Daichi looked up and saw that she was right. He pointed to the apartment building to the group’s right. 

“Alright, Kuroo that building to your back. Bokuto, take nine o’clock from Kuroo’s position, I’ll take point, Konoha and Suzumeda, take the other side. Suzumeda, I know you’ve never seen this happen before so don’t worry about the magic, Kuroo’ll handle it. Also, I may need you to come back me up on point when it really gets going. I’ll call for you if that happens.” Daichi’s commands were strong, and he felt like the kind of man that sounded like he knew what he was doing even if he was actually a bundle of nerves. 

Each time they did the rinse, it took more and more of a toll on him and Daichi was worried that one day he wouldn’t be able to pull up the huge amount of magic needed to complete the spell. 

The rinse was his and Kuroo’s trump card. A massive wave of magic that swept through an area of multiple kilometers, capable of taking out all of the monsters in the area, the rinse was an incredible feat. However, it took more magic than most people would use in their entire lives as well as a great control over it. There weren’t any samurai alive who could run the spell successfully on their own and a failed attempt was often disastrous as well. Best case scenario, the the person that attempted it and everyone in the surrounding area would end up in the hospital for three weeks, worst case scenario let off an explosion capable of taking out both monsters and civilians. Daichi shuddered to think of what would have happened if Kuroo had attempted the spell on his own without roping Daichi into the endeavor. 

See, Kuroo had the know-how and magical control through he lacked the vast magical reserves that occurred naturally in Daichi. Kuroo’d been shocked to find that his friend who was unable to perform the most basic spells had so much magic resting in his body. He’d been quick to bring Daichi into his plan as he attempted to find a way to use the rinse. Daichi’s been a young apprentice, still unsure of how to use the magic that people told him was flowing through his veins. He’d never been able to pull out the small amounts of magic needed to make simple spells succeed; to hear that he had enough magic to perform such a complicated move like the rinse was unbelievable. 

Now Daichi stood, his back to his partner, fending off the monsters drawn to the magic in the air. He could feel the way Kuroo pulled the magic from inside of him and Daichi let it go freely, instead concentrating on the battle in front of him. His sword flashed and his feet moved in when practiced patterns, muscle memory taking control of his body as more and more of his energy slipped away to Kuroo. Daichi was in motion, body constantly moving, focused on the fight when a completely black nue charged him and Daichi was so surprised that he stumbled backwards, only just managing to raise his sword in time to deflect the monster’s claws. 

Only once in his life had Daichi ever seen a black nue and the sight of it threw off his concentration in the worst possible way. He couldn’t get the image of Suga out of his mind and Daichi’s fighting suffered for it. The nue was quicker than ones he’d fought before and it swiped out a clawed paw. Daichi raised his sword to block it but he was a second too slow and the monster’s talons slashed across his right shoulder and across his chest, knocking him back in the process. All of the air rushed from his lungs and the wound felt like a hot brand on his skin, a pain he’d never before imagined. 

“Captain!” Bokuto yelled, ready to run to Daichi’s aid, but he stopped him with a shake of his head. 

Daichi gritted his teeth, doing his best to ignore the pain wracking through his body, and struggled back onto his feet. “Protect Kuroo!” He had just enough time to register that Bokuto had nodded when the nue rushed back in for another strike. Daichi lifted his sword, just barely able to redirect the blow. The monster recovered in a second and made a counterstrike. 

Daichi saw the beast moving in nearly slow motion; his body was past the point of being able to move fast enough to block the attack. His body tensed up in anticipation of more pain but the experience never came. 

Suzumeda stood in front of him, her right hand gripping the mace she was using to hold back the monster while with her other hand she drove a short sword into the nue’s heart. In a second the creature dissolved into dust and Suzumeda turned back to give Daichi a nod. His eyes widened and he didn’t even have enough time to call her name before a second nue sank its teeth into her shoulder and it ripped through the muscles of her upper arm. 

Suzumeda’s scream echoed in his ears and Daichi’s vision swam before him. He couldn’t feel anything as he forced himself back into the fight, sword singing as he thrust it into the nue’s eye and through to its skull. The monster didn’t even have time to release Suzumeda’s arm before it turned into fine golden dust. Daichi didn’t pause for a moment as he continued to strike out at the monster’s still forcing their way towards the group. 

His body moved like a machine and though he could feel blood seeping out of his wounds, he didn’t allow himself to stop moving for even a moment. Behind him, Kuroo was nearly ready to set off the rinse; he only had to hold out until then. 

Only a few more moments of hacking his way through the crowd of beast’s intent on taking out his partner and consuming the large quantity of magic that he’d gathered and Daichi felt the tell tale pull in his gut that let him know the rinse was about to take place. One final blow to the kumo yokai in front of him and a sound like a massive explosion sounded and a wave of deep green magic streaked with thin lines of red washed through the clearing. 

Daichi watched, panting, as the wave of monsters dissolved as the magic reached them. The monster’s further back saw their fellows fall and turned to run, fleeing the magical tidal wave. Gold dust filled the air and Daichi had just enough time to admire it before his knees collapsed and he fell, but before he could hit the ground, a pair of arms caught him. 

Kuroo slipped his arm around Daichi’s waist and gently lowered him to the ground. “Careful now, Dai. You’re not really in the best condition right now.” 

“Suzumeda,” Daichi croaked out. He could feel his consciousness beginning to slip away as his adrenaline rushed out of him but he had to make sure the apprentice was seen to. 

“Yaku’s got her,” Kuroo told him quietly. “She’ll live.” 

“Yaku’s here?” 

Kuroo nodded. “Got here right at the end. Good thing too. We both know he’s more of a healer anyway, especially when he’s babysittin’ the overgrown string bean.” 

Daichi sighed, about to sink into unconsciousness and away from the pain of the waking world when he had one final thought that caused his eyes to fly open. “Suga!” 

“Calm down,” Kuroo said, gently pushing him back down. “I’ll get someone to check on your friend.” 

“He’s my boyfriend now,” Daichi mumbled, eyes closing once again, sure he only imagined Kuroo’s sharp intake of breath. 

\---

As the rinse flowed past her, all Kiyoko felt was relief. The battle had been hard fought and even with Iwaizumi and Oikawa’s help Kiyoko doubted that they could have succeeded if Tsukishima and Yamaguchi hadn’t shown up to lend a hand. She glanced over at her partner, taking in the mass of cuts littering his body, and Kiyoko felt a flash of pride at how well he’d fought. Asahi was always worried that he was powerful enough to be the vice captain’s partner but Kiyoko wouldn’t want to have anyone else fighting by her side. 

She looked away from her partner to scan the area one last time and in a heartbeat her bow was up and ready, fear hammering in her heart. Across the stood two creatures, human shaped with large fox like ears and tails. The taller of the two was smirking, light brown hair flipped to the side, while the shorter creature stood with a scowl on his face and a menacing look in his eyes. The taller one leaned over to whisper something in his partner’s ear and the shorter figure’s ears flicked back as he blushed a bright red that contrasted with his bleach blonde hair. 

By now the entire samurai party, with the exception of Oikawa, had readied their weapons. Kiyoko didn’t even look over at him as she called out, “Oikawa, ready those pistols.” 

“I don’t think that’s in my best interest,” the Dream Doctor replied. 

“We can make it in your best interest,” Tsukishima drawled lazily, threat clear in his words despite his laidback tone. Kiyoko felt a stab of annoyance that disappeared the moment the two creatures stepped closer to the group. 

“We come in peace,” the taller one called out, its voice smooth and carefree while raising its arms to show that it didn’t carry weapons. Kiyoko surveyed its hands, noting the claws topping each finger. 

“I like this one already,” Oikawa commented. Beside him both Tsukishima and Iwaizumi rolled their eyes, the latter never lowering his gun an inch. Kiyoko decided then and there that she liked this police officer friend of Suga’s. 

“Kiyoko, I think they’re kitsune,” Asahi whispered to her. Kiyoko took another look at the creatures, weighing the facts she knew about kitsune against what she could see but before she could think for more than a moment, the taller creature spoke again. 

“He’s right, you know,” it said, smiling just wide enough that Kiyoko could see its pointed teeth. “We are kitsune. This is Kyoutani and you can call me Yahaba. We’ve come to deliver a few messages.” 

“Messages for whom?” Kiyoko asked. She couldn’t remember enough about kitsune to decide if she could trust them or not. 

“One for the Noble of the samurai, one for the Captain of the samurai, and one for a Mr. Oikawa Tooru,” Yahaba replied, ticking off the names on his clawed fingers. 

“A message for me?” Oikawa asked. Yahaba’s smile grew wider and he looked at Oikawa again. 

“Yes, you’ve made quite an impression on our boss,” he answered. The shorter one, Kyoutani, Kiyoko corrected herself, shifted at these words. 

“Yahaba...” he warned quietly. The other kitsune nodded at the meaning behind his words and opened his mouth to speak again but Tsukishima cut him off. 

“Who exactly is your boss?” 

“I’m afraid we can only share that information with the message recipients,” Yahaba replied. 

“So tell me,” Oikawa shot back, clearly eager to gain some new information. Kiyoko looked over at him to see that the tall man still hadn’t raised his gun and that he was bouncing on his toes. 

“Not in front of them,” Kyoutani muttered, his voice gravelly compared to Yahaba’s smooth tone. Asahi turned to Kiyoko, silently deferring to her judgment, and she could feel Yamaguchi and Tsukishima’s eyes on her as well. She was glad to note that Iwaizumi never looked away from the kitsune, gun steady in his hands. 

Kiyoko gave it a moment’s thought, staying silent enough to make Yahaba’s smile drop an inch, before she gave them her answer. 

“Fine, we’ll take you to the Captain.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i turned 21 last sunday. that was cool. also, here's an apology: im sorry i take forever to update. please continue to read this story~
> 
> bicyclestandard.tumblr.com 
> 
> tlk to me please


	9. In Which Suga's Life Stays Difficult

They made an odd group to say the least. Suga was thankful that the city was under some kind of spell as they walked through the streets to get to samurai headquarters. Not a single civilian head poked out of their windows to stare at them as they marched past, weapons still drawn. The black haired woman with the bow and arrows led the group with Iwaizumi next to her and the two Inari following behind them. Next came Suga with Tooru’s arm draped over his shoulder, anchoring him to the here and now, keeping him away from the pit in his stomach threatening to drag him back into panic, while the man with long hair and massive sword brought up the rear of the party. 

Suga looked to his side, taking in the faintly glowing magical chain surrounding them and sighed. Both him and the Inari were planning to go with them anyway, there was no need for any kind of spell to keep them from running off, but the woman had ordered the man, she’d called him Asahi, to create it and he’d followed her orders without question. The only two outside of the chain were the tall blonde and his freckled friend. Apparently they were going to act as messengers for the woman. Suga was processing everything that had happened almost like he was having an out of body experience, carefully avoiding his breakdown, and was so out of it that he ran into the shorter of the Inari when they came to a stop. The man turned with a growl and glowing eyes and Suga stumbled back, dragging Tooru behind with him. 

“Kyoutani,” the taller inari whispered and with that single word the other inari turned back to front, leaving Suga shaking slightly in Tooru’s arms. 

They walked for another few minutes, slowly making their way to the center of the city, when the woman in front stopped them and turned to face the two outside of the chain. 

“Tsukishima, head west to Akaashi; he should be over by the stadium. Yamaguchi, you go north and get the captain. Meet you at headquarters,” the woman said and her tone didn’t leave any room for argument. The blonde nodded and turned to his friend with a smirk. 

“Yamaguchi, give me a call once you’ve found them. Give that idiot Kuroo a smack for me too.” 

“Yessir,” Yamaguchi replied and took off down the street. Tsukishima shook his head before turning and jogging off in a different direction. Suga watched them go and his thoughts drifted off to the mysterious samurai captain. Daichi had refused to tell him who it was and it had only made him more curious. 

He had a lot of time to think in the forty-minute walk to the samurai base but after the first ten minutes he realized just how tired he was and felt his brain slow down. Suga looked around at the others because if he was tired, then he had no idea how those who actually were able to fight the monsters felt. His heart clenched again as he began to wonder just how many of the monsters attacking the city had been ones that he’d tried to kill. The pit in his stomach began to pull at him again but he snapped his mind away from it when he felt Tooru squeeze his shoulder. Looking up at his friend’s soft smile, Suga allowed himself to give him a small smile back. 

Tooru was his life line. Up until this past year he had always been it and just being near him was helping Suga. 

When they finally made it to the samurai base, Suga was surprised to see that the outside looked completely ordinary, just another standard gray square shaped government building, but as soon as they passed through the gate the scene in front of him changed into a wide open courtyard and a large traditional style building shaped like a U surrounding the courtyard on three sides. 

“Must be cloaked by magic,” Tooru muttered under his breath and Suga nodded, interested to see that the shorter Inari had flicked his ears back when Tooru had spoken. 

_Guess those ears aren’t just for show,_ Suga thought. The closer they got to the building, the more Suga began to get excited. He hadn’t brought his phone with him so he hadn’t heard from Daichi since he left Suga at his apartment; he wanted to make sure his boyfriend was alright after fighting for the city; if Tooru was a life line then Daichi was an anchor, solid, strong, and dependable. 

“Excuse me,” Suga called and the woman in front turned around, fixing her gaze on him, “I want to go see Daichi. Do you know where he would be?” 

She pushed her glasses up on her nose and narrowed her eyes. “I’m sorry Mr. Sugawara but you can’t see Sawamura yet. We all need to be debriefed before we may rest. You’ll be escorted to a waiting room.” She nodded to one of the men that had come up behind the group without Suga noticing. “Kageyama, please take Mr. Sugawara to room 213.” 

One of the men, Kageyama, stepped up beside Suga with a nod but before he could tug Suga away, Tooru tightened his grip on Suga’s shoulders and spoke up. “Now, now, how about you tell us what exactly has been going on first?” 

The woman sized him up. “Oikawa Tooru? You are to come with me to speak with the Inari.” 

Suga felt Tooru tense up behind him and Suga hurried to try to reason with the samurai. “Just tell us what’s going on first. What’s happening? Where is everyone? Where’s Daichi?” 

“Mr. Sugawara-” Kiyoko was cut off by another voice. 

“No, don’t answer his questions Kiyoko,” a voice said from behind the group. Suga twisted to see a tall man with black spikey hair striding towards them. He stopped right in front of Suga and scowled down at him. “He doesn’t deserve any answers, not after what he put us through.” 

Suga started a little at the tone of his voice, cold and sharp. 

“Kuroo, I sent Yamaguchi off to find your group,” Kiyoko said voice flat but the man only shrugged. 

“We made it back pretty quickly. Had to get people to the healers and all. We had to fight twice as many nue because whatever he did to them wiped them off of our radar.” He glared down at Suga, who was having a hard time not taking a step backwards. “Our hospital is at full capacity because he couldn’t figure out how to kill a damn nue.” 

“That’s enough; it wasn’t his fault,” Iwaizumi growled, coming up on Suga’s other side. 

“Is it? You two figured out how to destroy the nue,” Kuroo shot back nodding at Iwaizumi and Tooru. “Blessed weapons are the only way to really banish those monsters. Why didn’t he switch like you guys did, huh?” 

“They’re expensive,” Suga murmured eyes on the floor. He could feel himself beginning to shake, the pit pulling on him. 

“How did you know about our weapons?” Iwaizumi demanded, but Kuroo ignored him. 

“So people are dying because you’re cheap,” Kuroo said with a sneer. 

“That’s enough out of you,” Tooru suddenly announced, pointing a finger at Kuroo. The samurai opened his mouth to say something back but even though his tongue moved, nothing came out of his mouth. Suga turned to Tooru, mouth open in surprise, but he couldn’t think of what question to ask him first: when did he get magic or how did he get magic? 

Kiyoko raised her eyebrows but otherwise her face betrayed no emotion. “That’s some complex nonverbal magic. It’s forbidden in headquarters. Please remove it.” 

Tooru only shrugged. “Only if you can keep him in check. You’re ranked higher than him aren’t you?” Kiyoko nodded and Tooru snapped his fingers. 

“What the-” Kuroo started, able to speak again, but Kiyoko cut him off. 

“Kuroo take the Inari to Akaashi, please. I’ll be there momentarily.” She then turned to Kageyama. “Kageyama, I believe I asked you to escort Mr. Sugawara to a waiting room.” The younger man straightened up quickly and nodded, gesturing for Suga to follow him. With one last encouraging nod from Tooru, Suga started after Kageyama. 

\---

Akaashi had never really had a hard time reading people; his ability to take in the minute details of the way a person spoke or reacted to a situation gave him the edge he needed to remain in control of a group as powerful and headstrong as the samurai. However, there were a few instances where he drew a blank and this meeting with the Inari was one of them. The two younger Inari, Kyoutani and Yahaba, were relatively easy to understand, but the two elder Inari that had been waiting, backs leaning against the gate to the samurai compound, were another matter entirely. 

The taller of the two, Matsukawa, had a constant sleepy expression and a slight smile that never really seemed to move while the other Inari, Hanamaki, kept up a lazy half smirk even while he talked Akaashi into letting them into the base to deliver their message. Neither of them had so much as flinched when the stretchers of injured or dead samurai came floating past them and Akaashi was more nervous about the Inari than the actual message they’d come to give him. 

Now they stood in his office, the four Inari across the desk from him, Kuroo, Kiyoko, Asahi, and Michimiya. Akaashi couldn’t help but wish that Bokuto and Sawamura could have been there with them but with the two of them currently in the hospital… Akaashi was concerned to say the least. 

Bokuto especially weighed on his mind and for a moment he almost allowed himself to slip into thinking of him, broken and laying in a hospital bed, before he caught himself and looked forward at the Inari standing in front of him. 

Hanamaki stood slightly in front of the group, his five tails swishing back and forth in casual way while his partner stood leaning against the wall. Kyoutani and Yahaba stood to the side, Yahaba still as a statue and Kyoutani swaying back and forth slightly. Hanamaki kept his hands in his pockets, expression unchanging as he sized Akaashi up and spoke. “You know; we were thinking that delivering these messages would a bit more private. Are you sure you want all of these people around when we deliver yours?” 

Akaashi raised an eyebrow, face impassive despite the spike in his heartbeat. “Say what you need to say, please. We have a lot we need to do now that the battle has ended and I’d prefer not to waste time.” 

“Of course,” Hanamaki agreed, smile turning ever so slightly feral, “Let’s get down to business. Mattsun?” 

The tallest of the Inari stepped forward and behind him Akaashi heard Yui gasp as a strange magic flooded the air. Matsukawa’s irises began to glow and his voice rumbled through the room when he spoke. “For the Noble of the samurai: Beware the collection of a debt, for when it passes the goddess will turn her back on you and the brightest flame will be the first of many to go out, plunging your world into darkness. Seek solace in one who trusts in the roots of the earth for he is the only one able to save your soul and without him you are destined to fail.” 

Akaashi sat completely still, his mind struggling to work its way through the message as Matsukawa’s eyes faded back to normal and he wrapped an arm around Hanamaki, leaning into the other Inari. Comfortable against the other man, Matsukawa continued, “Things are going to get rough and we’ve been sent to help you out. I suggest you accept our help.” 

Akaashi still didn’t answer and it wasn’t until Kiyoko cleared her throat from Akaashi’s left that he snapped back into reality, shoving any and all thoughts of if they actually gained anything from the message out of his mind. He made a quick decision and spoke with as much conviction as he could muster. “Your master sent you to aid our efforts and we will welcome your help. You may stay here at the samurai compound for as long as you would like and in return we ask that you teach us everything you can about this danger that you’ve been sent to help us defeat.” 

Hanamaki nodded, smirk still firmly in place until Akaashi tacked on a final note to his decision. “Also, since our town in new to you, I will assign a guide to each of you in order to keep you from getting lost. Please do not go out without your guide.” 

“You’re assigning us a babysitter,” Yahaba commented drily and Akaashi didn’t even bother to argue. He needed someone to keep an eye on the Inari; something about them just didn’t feel quite right. 

Akaashi glanced at the clock on his wall and turned back to his guests. “Thank you for the information and we look forward to working with you,” he said cordially before he turned to his samurai. “Michimiya, could you please get our guests established in the apartments and assign samurai to be their guides?” At her nod he turned back to the Inari. “Then, I’ll conclude this meeting. There’s a lot that needs to be done and I’d like to get started.” 

He still had to question Sugawara but Akaashi was already looking forward to the moment he could break away. There was one person in particular that he needed to see. 

\---

The first time Daichi woke up all he could feel was pain. His immediate response was to dive into the magic that was always waiting at his core in some attempt to escape the agony pulsing through his body but when he looked inside himself all he could see was a nearly empty well. He didn't even have enough magic to light a candle. Daichi began to panic, fear spreading through him, making the pain even worse. His body felt too hot, like his veins were on fire, but just when he thought couldn't take it anymore a cool sensation swept into his bloodstream and calmed his racing heart. He could feel himself slipping back towards sleep and a voice soothed him as it guided his mind away from the panic he'd felt before. 

"Just sleep, Daichi." 

\---

Suga sat in The Mysterious Akaashi's office, trying not to fidget as the Noble sat at his desk, fingers steepled in front of him. The woman and man that he’d met earlier, Kiyoko and Asahi, stood at ease behind him, calm and collected. 

Kuroo also stood behind Akaashi, leaning against the wall, and Suga did his best not to make eye contact with the other man. Kuroo had made it quite clear that he didn't care for Suga and sitting in the office chair made Suga feel very small. All he wanted to do was to go and find Daichi, to hold his hand and lean into his boyfriend, but instead he had to sit in this cold office in front of some of the sharpest eyes he’d ever seen. 

He knew they were waiting for him to say something but Suga's nerves were still on edge and there was a voice in his head screaming at him to keep quiet. The knowledge that all of the people he'd been trying to protect hadn't been saved at all was eating him up from the inside out. It didn't help that he hadn't heard from Daichi since before the battle; Kuroo hadn't said a word about his partner but Suga had assumed that he was on his way to the office. Instead they'd waited until a woman with short brown hair had come in, covered in bruises and cuts but sporting a bright smile. Suga assumed she was important, Kuroo and Asahi had given her bows when she'd walked in, but he was too far into his own nerves to ask. 

To try and calm himself down Suga looked around the office, taking in the dark wood desk and the bookshelves lining the walls. The carpet was a plush maroon color and the walls were beige, lit by a lamp in each of the back corners of the room. Oddly enough there were lanterns mounted on the walls though they had neither a candle or a light bulb. Other than the lanterns the room was simple and elegant but impersonal, save for the small silver owl on a branch that sat on Akaashi's desk. 

Akaashi himself was as much of a mystery as his office. Suga prided himself on being observant but whenever he tried to read Akaashi, he was met with a cold and detached expression that made his heart beat too quickly and his throat close up. Suga refused to believe what evidence told him, there was no way that the man in charge of an organization built on protecting people was so void of emotions, and he resolved to learn more about Akaashi when he felt like he could breathe properly again. 

The Noble was still waiting for Suga to make the first move but instead it was the woman who came in late who cleared her throat and met Kuroo's gaze calmly before turning to Suga. "Mr. Sugawara, welcome to the samurai headquarters. I wish the circumstances of your visit were more positive." 

Suga nodded. "Thank you Ms?" 

"Michimiya, senior member of the samurai, and this is Kiyoko, Vice Captain of the Samurai, and-" she supplied when Suga trailed off. 

“We don’t have time for introductions, Yui,” Kuroo snapped at her impatiently. Michimiya turned to glare at him and Suga chose that moment to break in. 

"It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Michimiya," Suga dutifully said before he closed his mouth. If Kiyoko was only the vice captain, did that make Kuroo the captain? Suga couldn't help but think that if that was the case then the samurai should consider switching their roles. Kiyoko looked calm and collected while Kuroo stood visibly fuming in the corner. But wait, Tooru had said that Kiyoko outranked Kuroo, so who exactly was the captain? 

"Mr. Sugawara-"

"Please, just call me Suga," he interrupted. 

Michimiya nodded and continued, "Suga, we've got some questions for you." 

It was such a cliché line that Suga felt a little bit of fire return to his soul and he looked Akaashi straight in the eye. "I'll be glad to answer your questions just as soon as you answer some of mine.” He didn't even pause to take in the shock in Michimiya’s expression or the fury in Kuroo's as he continued to address Akaashi. "Where's Daichi? And if she's the vice captain than who's the captain? What'd you do with Tooru and Iwaizumi?" 

"I can't believe-" Kuroo started with a snarl but Akaashi didn't even look at him as he levelled his gaze with Suga and said, 

“The captain’s in the hospital with your friends. That should be sufficient to answer all three of your questions. Now, speak plainly, did you know what you were doing to the nue?” 

Suga sat in shock still processing the fact that Daichi, his Daichi who fumbled through taking compliments and tripped over the carpet in his apartment, was the captain of the samurai, and more importantly, that he was in the hospital. “He’s in the hospital? Where? I’ve got to go see him.” He made to stand up but a hand rested heavily on his shoulder and Suga turned to see Asahi was now standing behind him. 

Akaashi nodded gratefully to Asahi and turned back to Suga. “This won’t take long but unfortunately it’s necessary.” 

Suga turned back to him, ready to argue but one look at the expression in the other man’s eyes and he felt himself deflate. Akaashi looked tired and younger than Suga could have imagined and he gave in without a fight. “I knew they were turning black but I thought they were petrified. The research behind my herb pellets was sound; they should have worked.” 

Akaashi’s eyes flashed and sat up just a little straighter; Suga began to wonder what exactly he’d said that was so interesting to the Noble. 

“What exactly have you been using on them? I need herb names and you’ll need to give the exact recipe to the vice captain and one of our chief medical officers later,” came Akaashi’s quick reply. Suga could only nod before rattling of a short list of herbs as Akaashi jotted down notes on what he said. He figured that the faster he told them what they wanted to know, the sooner they’d let him go to Daichi, making it less likely that he’d burst into tears or succumb to his anxiety in front of them. 

“Any other questions, Kuroo? Kiyoko? Michimiya?” Akaashi asked the three samurai behind him after Suga had finished talking. 

“I want to know how the hell he gets into the Dream World. He doesn’t have enough magic to manage it the way we do,” Kuroo answered. 

“We use rituals and diagrams,” Suga said. 

“Where’d you find those?” Kuroo demanded. Suga only shrugged. Kenma had found all of the spells that they used and Suga hadn’t spent much time with the original texts. Kuroo’s face went hard. “Spill it, Sugawara. People are dying because of you.” 

Suga sucked in a breath. What if Daichi was…

He didn’t even hear Akaashi admonish Kuroo and tears were already welling in his eyes. “Kenma found the original texts. Oikawa and I adapted them along with his help.” 

“Kenma?” Kiyoko asked. 

“One of the Dream Doctors,” Suga explained. “Daichi met him.” 

“I’d like to bring him in to talk to as well,” Akaashi said, gathering together the papers he’d used to take notes on Suga’s description of the herbs and the slingshot. 

“He’s not-” Suga started. 

“He’s a part of this, whether he wants to be or not,” Kuroo said, cutting him off. Suga could only nod. He felt miserable and could feel the tears threating to pour from his eyes as he curled in on himself as best he could on the chair across from the desk. He felt cold and alone, with a hole right where his stomach should be, when a hand settled on his shoulder and Suga looked up to see Asahi smiling gently down at him. Suga just looked at him in surprise and the man turned to Akaashi. 

“Sir, I think we’ve spent enough time on this today,” Asahi said, and Akaashi’s eyes flicked down to Suga’s face before he nodded. 

“Asahi, would you escort Suga up to his room? He’ll likely want to rest after today’s events,” Akaashi said looking back down at his papers and gesturing for Kiyoko to come in closer. Suga shook himself out of his earlier sadness to exclaim, 

“I want to go to where Daichi is!” 

Akaashi looked back up, a furrow in his brows and Kuroo glared at him but Asahi once again stepped in. “Sir, it wouldn’t hurt. Might even help the captain.” 

Kuroo’s glare only got harder but Akaashi heaved a heavy sigh and and nodded and Suga jumped up from his chair and headed to the door. Finally, he could go see Daichi. 

As soon as they closed the door of the office behind them Suga turned to Asahi and blurted out, “Thank you so much.” 

The taller man flashed that same gentle smile at him and said quietly, “It’s no problem. I know how it feels to be in that chair.” 

Suga nodded emphatically and the two men set out towards the hospital. 

\---

The first thing that came into Bokuto’s mind as he opened his eyes was the simple fact that the room was too white. The lights were reflected on the stark white walls and they were shining right into his eyes, bringing him back into the waking world in the worst way possible. He laid there on the bed, blinking as he tried to get his eyes to work again, slowly coming back to reality. 

The second thing he realized was that everything hurt. He’d felt like this before; it was a common symptom of overusing that small amount of magic that he has. The only way he’d overuse though would be if he needed to heal himself and had no other options. The battle slammed into the front of his mind and suddenly he was wide awake and sitting up in bed despite the pain. He felt a tug on his arm and looked down. The needle lodged in the crook of his elbow made him pause for a minute and he looked around to see that he was in the samurai’s private wing of the hospital. He’s been there a few times before and it only served to increase the panic flowing through his veins; his track record with the hospital was not the best. When the nurse came into the room a few minutes later, Bokuto was carefully removing the IV from his arm. 

“Bokuto-san! Please leave that alone,” she pleaded, scrambling over to him and trying to move his hand away from his arm. He ignored her, intent on getting out of the room as soon as possible. The moment he’d realized that he was in the hospital had also been the moment his brain reminded him that if the samurai’s ace was in the hospital than there were definitely more injuries. He had to check on Yachi and Akaashi. 

The nurse was calling for help, and she let out a screech when Bokuto managed to get the IV out of his arm and ignored the bleeding hole it left behind as he swung his legs over the side of the bed to stand up. As soon as his feet hit the ground, the world around him swam but Bokuto tried his best to shake off the pain flowing in his veins. His eyes were still slightly out of focus and when he saw a flash of yellow at the door to the room Bokuto’s head shot up and he called out, “Yachi?” 

“It’s just me,” Tsukishima said, sounding bored. “You’re supposed to be resting. Get back in bed.” 

“Where’s Yachi? Is she okay? What about Akaashi?” Bokuto demanded, ignoring Tsukishima’s command. The taller man only sighed and walked over to help the struggling nurse. As soon as Tsukishima’s hand touched Bokuto’s shoulder, he felt a gentle push of the younger man’s magic and his limbs began to feel heavy. He looked up at Tsukishima, pleading with his eyes. “Tsukki, please, I have to know if they’re alright.” 

Tsukishima, gave him a gentle push and Bokuto’s knees buckled under him, causing him to fall back on the bed. Bokuto’s grabbed onto his hand, trying to squeeze it but Tsukishima only ducked down to grab his legs and hoist him into the position he needed to be in on the bed. The entire time he avoided meeting Bokuto’s eyes. 

Bokuto could feel himself slipping away into a numbing sleep, and in his last moments of consciousness he called out one last time. “Tsukki, please.” 

The other samurai sighed, “Akaashi’s alright. Shaken, but alright.” 

“And Yachi?” 

Tsukishima reached between the two of them and placed two of his fingers in the middle of Bokuto’s forehead. “Sleep Ace.” 

Bokuto felt the last of his fight drain away as his eyes slipped closed and he did as Tsukishima asked. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posting this from england so that's new and exciting!
> 
> sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up. jet lag and weddings and anxiety are not conducive to my writing.
> 
> come talk to me about hq!! or bnha pls: bicyclestandard.tumblr.com
> 
> comments and kudos are very much appreciated!!


	10. In Which a Lot of People Cry and Akaashi Feels Uncomfortable

Daichi could hear voices swirling around him, but he couldn’t tell who they belonged to, and the pounding in his head made his first reaction one of annoyance rather than curiosity; he just wanted them to shut up. He could feel aches and pains from at least seven different places on his body to go along with the utterly empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. Before he even opened his eyes Daichi dove down into his well of magic, normally an ocean inside his mind, and saw that it was down to a small bubbling spring. He sighed internally and pinched a little bit of the magic with his mind, drawing it out of the spring and using it to lessen the pain in his head. With the sensation down to a dull throbbing he was able to focus on the voices surrounding him once again.

“What are you even doing here? It’s your fault he’s in the hospital in the first place.”

“Kuroo, I swear if you don’t lay off him I’ll-“

“You’ll what, Yaku? Kick me in the shins? Head butt my stomach?”

“I’ll tell Daichi what really happened with the tear gas grenades.”

“You’re bluffing. You wouldn’t dare.”

“Don’t forget whose hospital this is.”

Daichi wished that he had the strength to get up and smack the both of them, but he didn’t even have the energy to open his eyes yet. He was slowly coming to terms with the world around him. He could feel the sheets tucked around his body and the soft beeping of a heart rate monitor nearby. A thin, soft fingers were wrapped around his left hand and he was suddenly aware of another voice, much more quiet than the two still bickering in the background.

“Please wake up soon. Daichi, I miss you so much, I need you so much, and you have to be alright. It’s been days. Please wake up. I love you. I know I haven’t told you yet but I do. So please wake up. I can’t do this without you. Neither can they. There’s been so much happening and we all need you back.”

Daichi swallowed, listening to the sound of Suga’s voice, quiet and choked, like he’d been crying. He took another pinch of magic from his spring and spread it thin throughout his body. He heard Kuroo gasp as he felt the magic in the air, familiar after all of their years working together, but he ignored him, too focused on the soft voice whispering into the sheets by his ear. A moment later he slowly blinked open his eyes, going slow to keep the hospital room lights from blinding him.

The first thing he saw was Suga’s face, tear-stained and red, laying on the bed next to his head, their hands still twined together. Daichi felt a sense of relief wash through him. He’d been so worried about Suga and he knew that no matter what he’d made Suga promise him, there was no way his boyfriend would hide away in his apartment while everyone around him was fighting for their lives. Boyfriend. The word felt wrong, too high school for how he felt about Suga, but it was the best word he could come up with.

The Suga in front of him was clearly not perfectly fine, but at least he seemed to be in better shape that Daichi was himself. He watched as Suga’s eyes widened and after a second a grin split his face before Suga burst into tears, bringing his hand up to cup Daichi’s face and press his own forehead against it. Daichi smiled, content to rest while Suga cried himself out, but unfortunately Kuroo had other ideas.

“Suga, give him room to breathe,” he commanded, pulling Suga roughly away from Daichi. Suga went willingly, too tired to fight back. Daichi missed the contact immediately, hand opening and closing, wishing Suga’s was still intertwined with his. He opened his mouth to call Suga back over to him, but the only sound that emerged was a rough croak that dissolved into a dry cough.

“You fought well,” Yaku said, coming over to place a glass of water on the bedside table. “but there were a lot of monsters and nearly all of your magic was used up in the rinse. You didn’t have much left to heal yourself.”

Daichi nodded, and allowed Yaku to help him sit up so he could carefully take the glass in his hands and sip at it carefully, trying not to let his hands shake too much. Once the glass was half empty he sighed and set it down, more confident in his voice as he tried to speak again. “Suga, come back.”

A smile lit his boyfriend’s face and though it didn’t quite reach his eyes, Daichi was glad to see it there all the same. He beckoned with his hand and Suga broke away from Kuroo’s grasp to come over and sit on the edge of the bed, taking hold of Daichi’s hand once more and letting out a quiet, “I’m glad you’re awake.”

Daichi could see tears beginning to form in Suga’s eyes so he looked up and met Yaku’s eyes. The healer glanced at Suga and looked back up to nod to Daichi. The captain turned to Kuroo then and asked, “Could you guys give us a bit?”

Kuroo’s expression soured and he replied, “We need to debrief you on the current situation.”

“He’s been awake for less than five minutes. The debriefing can wait,” Yaku announced as he began to shepherd Kuroo out of the hospital room.

Daichi watched them go, a soft smile on his lips before he turned back to Suga. “Lay down with me?”

“I don't want to hurt you. You’re still healing,” Suga said, not meeting his eyes.

“It’ll help with the healing, trust me,” Daichi answered with a chuckle. Suga didn’t return his smile, though he still settled in on the bed on his side, head carefully laid on Daichi’s chest. Daichi took a breath, glad to have Suga’s warmth next to him, and asked the question that had been bothering him since he’d woken up. “What’s been going on? Did something happen to you?”

Suga burrowed into Daichi’s chest a little more. “I’m glad you’re up again. The samurai need their captain.”

“Suga, I was going to tell you but I just didn’t know-” Daichi started but Suga cut him off.

“Sorry. I’m not angry or anything; it’s just been, well, things have been hard without you,” Suga murmured into his shoulder. Daichi squeezed his hand, silently encouraging Suga to tell him what was on his mind. He felt Suga take a shuddering breath. “There’s been so much going on. So many people are hurt and the Inari are delivering ominous messages and Kuroo hates me and you’re hurt and I can’t sleep thinking about all of the pain I’ve caused and it’s all my fault and I’m just so- “

Daichi could only hold him as Suga sobbed into his arms, but after a moment he reached down into his well of magic, still ridiculously small compared to what it ought to be, but enough for what he needed, and sent shot of magic through his body. He blasted away the pain in his limbs for just long enough to pull Suga closer to him.

“Hey, Suga, hey, it’s not your fault. Nothing's your fault. I’m fine; I can already feel myself healing and trust me, Kuroo hates everyone at first. He’ll warm up to you. As for the rest, we’ll take it as it comes, okay? It’s not your fault; I’m here now.” Daichi felt like he wasn’t really saying the right things, but he wasn’t sure exactly what to say to Suga. He had no idea what the current situation with the samurai was or even how long he’d been asleep. He knew it couldn’t have been too long or his magic would have restored itself, but with the way Suga was talking, it sounded like it’d been days.

Daichi looked down at his boyfriend cradled in his arms and took in his face, eyes puffy from crying and dark circles under his eyes that proved that Suga had been telling the truth about not sleeping. He wished for the hundredth time that he could do simple spells on people other than himself; Kuroo was the one exception because he had enough magic to block any excess of Daichi’s. Even the truth spell Daichi had used on his and Suga’s first coffee date had been created by Yui and worked to channel Daichi’s magic safely.

“Let’s start with the easiest problem to fix,” Daichi said, even as he felt himself beginning to get tired. “Give Yaku a ring; he’ll give you something to help you sleep and we can take a nap. Sound good?”

Daichi felt Suga nod and had to hold back a sigh of relief. He’d missed a lot while he’d been out, but it was time to listen to his own advice and take on his problems one at a time, starting with his own recovery.

\---

“I don’t like this,” Iwaizumi grumbled as Kenma stood outside of Akaashi’s office door, waiting to be called in. “Don’t let them bully you, Kenma.” He didn’t get an answer, but Iwaizumi wasn’t really expecting one. Kenma had been staring at the floor ever since he’d been dragged into the samurai headquarters by a tall samurai apprentice named Lev and Iwaizumi was starting to get worried.

“He’ll be fine; let’s go,” said a tall man as he rolled his eyes. Iwaizumi recognized him as Kuroo, one of the top ranked samurai. He’d seemed bored all morning until someone had mentioned Suga and he’d snapped at them. He’d been sulking ever since and it did nothing to make Iwaizumi feel better about sending Kenma into the office without any kind of backup.

Just as the office door opened up and Akaashi stood, beckoning Kenma inside, Iwaizumi heard the clicking of boots on the hallway floor and he turned to see Oikawa striding towards them looking like he owned the building. He wasn’t sure exactly why, but Iwaizumi felt a sudden urge to either punch his boyfriend in the gut or make out with him shoved against the wall.

“So sorry I’m late but I’m here now so let’s get this show on the road,” Oikawa announced, smile flashing at the samurai. Iwaizumi still couldn’t decide if he wanted to punch him or kiss him.

“Late for what?” Kuroo asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly not put off by Oikawa’s entrance.

“You didn’t think you could just dig into our dear Ken-chan without Iwa and I there, did you?” Oikawa replied as he slipped an arm around Kenma. For his part Kenma did his best to look like he didn’t want to be there at all and Iwaizumi couldn’t blame him. “Kenma’s a Dream Doctor and we stick together.” Kenma and Iwaizumi caught each other’s eye. It was rich, coming from Oikawa, but there was no way they were going to disagree with him in front of the samurai.

Kuroo looked like he was about to argue, but Akaashi sent a tiny shake of his head towards him and Kuroo only shrugged and entered the office, leaving Oikawa, Iwaizumi and Kenma to follow after him.

Iwaizumi wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting when he pictured the way the samurai would question Kenma, but after the first round of questions, he found himself feeling a little silly for being so worried. Akaashi may have been blunt, but his questions were fair and he seemed to understand that Kenma was unlikely to give him long winded answers. After nearly and hour of questioning, Akaashi finally sighed and waved a hand in Kenma’s direction.

“If that’s all you can tell us then you’re free for now Kozume-san. I’ll get someone to take you back to your apartment in a moment,” the Noble said, voice weary. Glad that the interrogation was over, Iwaizumi nearly missed the quick flash of fear that ran across Kenma’s face before it settled into his normal emotionless expression, but he was still surprised when Kenma spoke up.

“Actually I’d like to stay here. I want to have a look around your library,” Kenma replied, voice soft but firm. Akaashi looked up from the papers on his desk, a slight frown on his features, but before he could say anything, Kuroo looked up from where he’d been picking at his nails behind Akaashi’s chair.

“Absolutely not,” he drawled.

Akaashi shot him a sharp look, but Kuroo met his eyes without flinching. Oikawa lifted an eyebrow at the tall samurai and in his mind Iwaizumi was praying that his boyfriend wouldn’t say anything stupid. They were so close to getting Kenma set free, but if Oikawa said the wrong thing here it could cause some major problems.

Fortunately, Akaashi turned back to Kenma before anything severe could happen. “Kozume, you may use our library so long as you agree to work with the samurai and share any useful information you come across.” Iwaizumi let out the breath he hadn’t even noticed that he was holding when Kuroo only scowled and Kenma nodded. He looked up at Akaashi for confirmation and at the noble’s nod, Iwaizumi herded both Kenma and Oikawa out of the office, keeping them as far away from Kuroo and his glare as possible.

\---

As soon as the Dream Doctors exited his office, Akaashi rounded on Kuroo, exhaustion making his temper short and his emotions easy to see. Kuroo caught the shift in mood immediately and began backing up to the wall, hands in front of him in a pacifying gesture. “Hey now Akaashi, I didn’t mean-“

“Of course you meant it,” Akaashi snapped. “If you ever act like that to guests in my office again I’ll have you moved to desk work faster than you can blink. I don’t care who your partner is and I don’t care how tired you are; this is my office and I am the Noble here. You will respect my authority. Is that clear?” 

Kuroo nodded quickly and Akaashi felt himself deflate though only slightly. He could feel himself becoming more and more frustrated as the days went by and not for the first time since the battle, Akaashi caught himself wishing that someone else could handle the affairs of the samurai. All he wanted was to go down to the hospital to check on Bokuto and forget about the worries of being the Noble, but he’d been too busy trying to sort out the mess after the battle to take the time to go.

Kuroo looked taken aback, almost scared, probably surprised that Akaashi had lost his temper in front of him for the first time since he’d become the Noble, but Akaashi could feel the blood pulsing in his head and a migraine forming behind his eyes. He took a deep breath and turned away from Kuroo’s searching gaze. “Just go, Kuroo.”

“Do you want me to send an apprentice with some headache medicine?” Kuroo asked, voice small and Akaashi let out a breath, suddenly ashamed of the way he’d lost his composure. In his mind he’d acted nearly as poorly as the man he’d been reprimanding.

“Don’t worry about it,” Akaashi answered, “I’m heading down to the hospital anyway. I’ll pick something up there.”

Kuroo nodded and backed out of the office, shutting the door behind him. Akaashi watched it gently close and once he was sure Kuroo was gone, he looked around his office, trying to convince himself that there was nothing wrong with him going down to the hospital. There was just so much that he needed to get done but, Akaashi rationalized, he was in no state to be making important decisions about the future of the samurai.

He quickly gathered up his coat from the rack by the door and before he could think too much about it, Akaashi left his office and locked the door behind him before he set out for the hospital within their compound. He walked quickly, eyes carefully scanning the area between buildings for any sign of monsters; he’d never forget the feeling of being trapped as a horde of creatures came barreling towards him. He tried to suppress a shiver and attempt not to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t been out with Kageyama, Hinata, and Yachi. As it was, they wouldn’t have survived if Komi and Yukie hadn’t responded to their call so quickly.

Akaashi rounded the corner and entered the hospital, brushing past the receptionist without a second thought. There were definitely some perks to being the Noble; no one questioned him as he tried to avoid taking the stairs two at a time to get to the room Bokuto had been assigned to every single time he’d been seriously wounded. Akaashi hurried through the hallway, doing his best to seem casual and well aware that he was doing a poor job of it. Fortunately, the only other visitors were in Sawamura’s room. The Noble felt a twinge of guilt as he breezed past the room; Sugawara was still there, hand gripping Sawamura’s like he’d never let go as the captain slept. Akaashi looked away.

There it was, the door at the end of the hall. Akaashi took a breath and knocked on the lightly on the door before he walked into the room. Bokuto was sitting up, bandages wrapped around his broken and magically healed ribs and the top of his head. He looked up at the sound of the door opening and closing and the Noble almost missed the way his shoulders slumped for a second before Bokuto plastered a smile on his face and exclaimed,

“Akaashi! Didn’t expect to see you here. It’s past visiting hours.”

Akaashi raised an eyebrow. “Is it? Sugawara’s still here.”

“I think Yaku feels bad for him,” Bokuto said with a shrug and a wince at the strain it put on his shoulders. Akaashi eyed him critically as he moved a little bit closer to the bed. Bokuto had dark circles shadowing his eyes and despite his forced bed rest, it didn’t seem like Bokuto was actually getting much sleep. His eyes roamed over the bandages and bruises littering what he could see of Bokuto’s body and he felt a stab of pain in his gut.

Bokuto had fought alone, impressive for any samurai, and he’d fought against a massive horde of monsters while protecting both Sawamura and Kuroo; it was a miracle he was alive at all. 

Akaashi wasn’t an idiot. He knew that the battle hadn’t just been a random natural disaster. Akaashi repressed a shudder as his mind drifted back to the battle; he’d done his best to seem like the calm, collected leader but inside he’d been terrified. He had hoped talking to the Inari and the Dream Doctors would give him some clues, but so far it had only led him to more questions.

When Akaashi’s eyes drifted back up to his face, he found Bokuto was watching as he looked him over. His gaze was leveled and intense and Akaashi did his best to ignore the blush rising up the back of his neck. Bokuto didn’t say a word, only held out an arm, and Akaashi stepped up to him and allowed him to wrap his arm around his waist and pull him close enough for Bokuto to rest his forehead against his stomach. He stayed that way- Bokuto’s face pressed into his midsection, letting his hands come up to thread his fingers through the samurai’s hair soothingly.

Akaashi waited patiently, still running his fingers through Bokuto’s hair, soft and a little wavy without its usual gel, silently letting the samurai take comfort in him. He didn’t have to wait for more than a minute or two for the samurai to sigh and mumble into his shirt.

“The doctors won’t let me go see Yachi.”

“They’re letting you rest, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi replied quietly.

“She still hasn’t woken up.”

Akaashi knew it was time to tread carefully; Bokuto didn’t need anymore problems in his life. He was still healing. “She’s being seen to by Yaku himself.”

“I should have been fighting by her side. I should have been at your side.”

Akaashi felt his cheeks redden and he forced himself to focus on Bokuto’s words in the least romantic way possible. “You were protecting Kuroo-san and Sawamura-san. They were the priority.”

“Sawamura still ended up in the hospital.”

“He’s alive now because you were protecting them,” Akaashi said, his tone as calm and reassuring as he could make it.

“What kind of an ace can’t even protect his own apprentice?”

“You did the best you could; everyone did.”

“It wasn’t enough. We weren’t enough.”

Akaashi sucked in a breath and ran his hands down from the top of Bokuto’s hair to cup his jaw and gently raise his face away from Akaashi’s stomach. Before Bokuto could say another word, Akaashi bent down and pressed his lips to Bokuto’s forehead and then quickly again to his lips, mumbling against them.

“You are always enough.”

\---

Akaashi didn’t leave Bokuto’s hospital room until nearly and hour and a half later. Making his way down the hall, Akaashi stopped when he passed Sawamura’s room, its door still open. He glanced inside, hoping to check in with his captain, and all of the faith and positivity that he’d been pushing into Bokuto rose in his throat like bile at the sight before him.

Sugawara was still bent over, asleep against the edge of the bed, but he no longer held one of the captain’s hands. Instead, Sawamura’s hands cradled his own face while he sat, hunched over in bed, silent sobs wracking through his body. Before the other man noticed that he had an audience, Akaashi looked away and quickly left the floor, fist pressed against his own mouth as he tried vainly to hold himself together.

If the samurai’s unshakeable captain was beaten, how did they have a chance of facing the threats to come?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha aha haha
> 
> so it's been a little while....  
> thank you for coming back to this story after it took me a month to get this up! please continue to enjoy it.
> 
> feel free to come yell at me  
> bicyclestandard.tumblr.com


	11. In Which Sawamura Daichi Gets Steamrolled

“Hit me like you mean it,” Kyoutani said, trying his best to urge Yahaba on. The older kitsune was more guarded than usual and Kyoutani was sick of the way Yahaba had been pulling his punches. “Come on, pretty boy.”

Yahaba rolled his eyes at the nickname, from all the way back when Kyoutani had still been human, but his next punch is still only marginally harder. Kyoutani had to resist the urge to growl in frustration, he knew it would only make Yahaba smirk, and instead he lowered his voice and said, “It doesn’t matter if they know that you can punch me into the wall twenty meters away. They still won’t be able to stop you from doing it.”

He had the sudden thought that he must be some kind of a masochist because he didn’t even mind when Yahaba really does hit him hard enough to throw him all the way back into the wall of the samurai training building. He just got back up and jogged his way back to the outdoor training area. They continue their practice fight until Yahaba slammed him into the ground hard enough to create cracks in the packed dirt beneath him and one of the samurai approached the training area, first to talk to their samurai ‘guide,’ Inouka, and then to step over to the pair of them with a sunny smile on her face. “Hi, I’m Michimiya.”

Immediately Kyoutani could tell that there was more to this woman than meets the eye; she radiated power in a controlled manner that was nearly as well done as Matsukawa’s own aura. It’s a feat rarely seen in humans and Kyoutani is simultaneously impressed and wary of this innocent looking girl, with her short brown hair held back with pale pink clips and her wide brown eyes. A glance to his side revealed that Yahaba was standing rigidly straight and it occurred to Kyoutani that the other Inari was just as nervous as he was; this Michimiya woman must really be something.

“I’m Yahaba and this is Kyoutani,” Yahaba answered with his most charming smile, formally bowing and seeming to shake himself out of his earlier nervousness. Kyoutani only lessens his frown a little and to him it’s close enough to a friendly smile. Michimiya doesn’t seem to mind at all; she just nodded like she’s not talking to two beings that could literally break her in half.

“I’m here to escort you back to your rooms. Inouka is going to be helping with preparations,” Michimiya explained, beckoning them to follow her, and Kyoutani didn’t even realize that he’d started off towards their temporary home until they’ve already left the training courts. Michimiya hasn’t let her cheery smile drop at all but now that he was looking for it, Kyoutani could detect the small hint of the subtlest magic he’d ever experienced prodding them along. A quick glance to his right confirmed that Yahaba had caught on as well but once Kyoutani realized that his partner wasn’t going to raise a fuss, he mentally shrugged and kept walking.

“Preparations for what again?” Yahaba asked politely.

“The funeral,” Yui answered simply and Yahaba only nodded. Kyoutani felt his gut twist at the thought of a funeral and almost without thinking he asked,

“How many dead?”

Yui looked at him over her shoulder and calmly replied, “Four.”

Both kitsune lowered their eyes and heads in a sign of respect. The number itself was surprising to them both; from what Kyoutani had seen of the samurai, they were a capable group, a force to be reckoned with if that massive sweep of magic was anything to go by. For four of them to fall, and even more to end up injured in the hospital, Kyoutani figured that the battle must have been a lot more intense than the little of it that he and Yahaba had seen.

Yui walked them all the way to their apartment and at the door she gave them one final smile and offered Yahaba her hand. “If you need anything just tell them to give me a ring, and I’ll work it out the best I can.”

Yahaba nodded and gave her a slight bow that Kyoutani hurried to copy before she snapped her fingers and disappeared, leaving their doorstep empty.

\---

As captain of the samurai, it was essentially required of him to go to the funeral, but even if he’d been injured beyond repair, Daichi would have found a way to be there anyway. Now, after being helped into his black suit by Suga, he stood next to Kuroo, attempting to look solemn and strong as Akaashi read the names and traditional prayers for the fallen samurai.

“Komi Haruki, Onaga Wataru, Kaname Moniwa, and Mako Outaki, we thank you for your service one final time.” Akaashi’s words rang out through the silent funeral grounds, packed with the entire samurai organization, save for those too injured to attend. Most of the current patients had made it to the funeral, boosted by magic from various people. Bokuto stood behind Daichi and to the left and Yui was directly next to him while in front of Bokuto. It was her magic keeping the two of them from having to lean on anyone for support and for that Daichi was eternally grateful. A funeral was not the place for their captain and ace to seem weak and he didn’t want to disgrace the memory of the fallen by collapsing part of the way through the ceremony.

His eyes scanned the crowd picking out familiar faces, Suga stood towards the back, next to Tanaka and Nishinoya, the samurai’s contacts with the local police, and in front of them was Komi’s apprentice, Yukie, in a wheelchair; she was going to be in recovery for months even with magical healing. Tsukishima and Yamaguchi stood on either side of her with Kageyama and Hinata next to them. Lev stood alone, his height and light hair making him easy to spot and Daichi was reminded that Yaku wasn’t at the funeral because of how busy the hospital had been. Daichi forced his mind away from the occupied beds in the hospital wing and continued to look out over his samurai while the pit in his stomach continued to grow. They’d lost so many; could the samurai really continue to protect the city with such low numbers?

He was so lost in thought that he nearly didn’t notice when the funeral ended and his guilt grew a bit when his thoughts snapped back to the present. Yui placed a hand on his back, he could feel her magic prodding his own and he immediately gave her the access she was looking for so she could draw just the right amount of his magic out to flow through his veins. He felt strength flood his body and Daichi turned to thank her only to see that Yui was already off, heading towards Yukie. When he turned back to the front, Tanaka and Nishinoya stood in front of him looking like they had something to say.

“Captain, we’d like to train to be samurai,” Nishinoya stated bluntly, and before Daichi could say a word Tanaka cut in,

“I know we’re older than your normal recruits but we already know how to fight. We just need to know how to kill monsters,” Tanaka said, and to Daichi’s surprise he wasn’t grinning when he said it. Neither of them were. For once, in the five years that Daichi’s known the two of them, Tanaka and Nishinoya seemed completely serious about something other than Kiyoko and so instead of shutting them down immediately, he paused, weighing his options. 

After a minute or so Daichi looked at the two of them and said, “Alright, I’ll see what I can arrange. I can’t promise that you’ll be able to become full samurai but it is within my power to get you weapons training.”

Tanaka’s face lit up and he immediately reached for Daichi’s hand, shaking it vigorously. “You won’t regret it Sawamura-san!” and it made Daichi smile a bit ruefully. Nishinoya however, was focused on something far off, a determined look on his face and Daichi can’t help but wonder why he’s so passionate about learning to fight monsters. He was about to pull the shorter man aside and ask, it could be important to his training, but before he could make a move, Suga marched over, hands on his hips.

“If they get training, then I want it too,” he stated with a short pause before he added, “Please.”

This one was easy for Daichi, an immediate gut response. “No.” He didn’t even try to explain why teaching Suga how to fight was a bad idea. The man couldn’t take care of himself already; there was no way Suga would survive actual battles without serious injury. Daichi turned to walk away but Suga reached out and gripped his arm, forcing him to look back at him and when Daichi saw the fire burning in Suga’s eyes, he knew there was about to be trouble.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” Suga demanded.

Daichi looked him directly in the eye, ignoring his boyfriend’s intense gaze and focusing on the warm honey gold of his irises. “You’ll only get hurt. Fighting in the waking world isn’t the same as it is in dreams.”

“I can do it,” Suga insisted, face still hard as stone but with a pleading tone in his voice.

“No, you can’t and I don’t have the time to train you anyway,” Daichi replied flatly.

“You’re going to teach them,” Suga exclaimed, motioning towards Tanaka and Nishinoya. “You’re being unreasonable and stubborn and unfair and-”

“That’s completely different. They’re trained in the real world and they’ll have people to look out for them on the field but I can’t be there for you. I can’t-” Daichi started, cutting his boyfriend off, when a hand was placed on his shoulder and he realized that he’d been steadily raising his voice. Belatedly he looked down to see that Kiyoko stood at his shoulder, Yui and Asahi behind her. She didn’t say a word but from behind her Yui spoke up, her voice as strong as ever.

“I think it’d be a good idea to train all of the Dream Doctors; they could be a real asset.”

Daichi turned to throw a glare at her and opened his mouth to argue but closed it again when Kiyoko shook her head and motioned towards Akaashi standing just off to the side.

“She’s right. I’d like to bring the Dream Doctors into our ranks for the time being. With everything that’s been going on, I think it would be a good idea to have everyone trained to fight,” Akaashi said, decisively. Daichi wanted to argue, to convince him not to put Suga anywhere near a battlefield but the Noble gave him a hard look and the words died in his throat. A funeral was not the time nor the place for an argument and Daichi was more than a little ashamed of himself.

“Fine.” Daichi said as he turned back to Suga. “We start tomorrow at 6am.” Suga gave him a dazzling smile and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek.

“Thank you! I’ll prove all of those doubts in your head wrong, just you watch.”

Daichi spent the rest of the funeral hoping that Akaashi knew what he was doing and wondering whose funeral would be next, Suga’s or his own.

\---

Kuroo stood through the entire funeral, silent and unmoving other than the small twitches of his fingers as he shot little bits of magic at Bokuto to help him stay up. The injured samurai had insisted on coming to the funeral despite the heavy bandaging and Yaku’s order to stay in bed. Kuroo had known that Yaku wouldn’t win that fight; Bokuto had that look in his eye that said he wasn’t going to change his mind no matter what the doctor said.

Part of it was Yachi. Bokuto’s apprentice still hadn’t woken up from her coma and there wasn’t anything any of the doctors could do to wake her. Kuroo had been down to see her a few times, since Bo wasn’t allowed to roam the hospital after he accidently knocked a gurney down a flight of stairs. Laying on the bed, pale and unmoving, Yachi hadn’t looked like herself and for the first time, Kuroo had been glad that his best friend was confined to his room. Kuroo’d checked in on Yachi one last time before the funeral and given her the news on what had been going on with the other samurai, hoping that maybe she’d hear him and wake up but he’d had no such luck.

Now he stood at the crossroad of another dilemma. Daichi stood to the side, arms crossed and a mildly murderous look on his face after Akaashi had allowed the Dream Doctors to be trained as samurai, but directly in front of Kuroo was Bokuto, worn and grey, with large dark circles under red eyes that looked at the people around him without actually seeing any of them. Kuroo let out a small sigh, wondering who needed his help more, when someone stepped up next to him.

“I can talk to Bokuto if you’d like,” Kiyoko said, voice casual as she pushed her glasses up on her nose.

“Why?” Kuroo drawled, trying his best to keep his voice sounding bored even though he was secretly glad to have some help.

“I think Daichi would appreciate your help a bit more than mine right now,” she answered with a shrug. “Besides, I think I can help Bokuto a bit.”

Kuroo looked down at her and thought about throwing a sarcastic reply her way but the calm, unimpressed way she looked back at him changed his mind. Instead Kuroo gestured to Bokuto with his head. “Hop to it, Vice Captain.”

She didn’t even roll her eyes at him before she walked away. Nerves of steel, that one.

Kuroo’s eyes slid back over to Daichi, still too stiff and unable to hold up a conversation with Tsukishima as the younger samurai spoke to him with a small smirk on his face. Kuroo strolled over to the two of them and slung his arm around Daichi’s shoulders, letting his own eyes droop until they were only half open. “Sorry, kid, I’m going to have to steal Sawamura away for a little while. You can tell him all about your finger painting day at kindergarten later.”

“You do realize that I’m not that much younger than you, right?” Tsukishima replied, incredibly unimpressed.

Kuroo only shrugged. “There’s a pretty big difference between 22 and 28, Tsukki. Namely 6 years of keeping yourself and your friends alive.” Tsukishima’s expression soured and Kuroo made a shooing motion with his hands, watching as the younger samurai strode off. “What a mouth on that kid, am I right?”

Daichi looked distracted and his shoulders underneath Kuroo’s arm still felt tense. Kuroo sighed when his partner didn’t answer.

“You can talk to me. About anything, Daichi,” he said, honesty coating his words. “We’re partners.”

Daichi sighed, shoulders sagging, and Kuroo had the insane urge to wrap his arms around him in a hug, but they were partners on the battlefield and nowhere else. A flash of grey made his eyes flick over to Sugawara, standing with Tanaka and Nishinoya, talking excitedly. Kuroo hurriedly looked away and tried to focus on Daichi once again.

“I’m worried about Suga. Being a samurai isn’t easy or fun,” Daichi muttered and Kuroo settled in to listen to what his partner had to say.

\---

“Pathetic.” Tsukishima’s face had settled into it’s normal apathetic expression as he surveyed the scene around him. Yamaguchi resisted the urge to step on his mentor’s toes in retaliation.

“Tsukki, it’s a funeral,” Yamaguchi pointed out, “people are supposed to look upset.”

“Hmph.”

Yamaguchi sighed audibly as he watched his mentor scan the crowd, eyes resting briefly on a few of his fellow samurai before moving on again. As much as he wanted to feign ignorance, Yamaguchi knew exactly what was going through Tsukishima’s mind at that moment and before he could shove the thought away, it echoed through his mind: if this was how broken the samurai were after one battle, how would they ever manage to win the war?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you listen closely you can hear the sound of me dying a slow painful writer's death
> 
> bicyclestandard.tumblr.com come free me


	12. In Which Kenma Realizes That Everything Moves Forward Even When He Doesn't Want It To

Sometimes Suga hated his life. Times like now, for instance, with the sun beating down on him, drenched in sweat, and trying his best to keep his practice sword up while Daichi swung at him again. They'd only been at it for about 20 minutes, but Suga could already feel himself getting frustrated and tired. He'd been training with Daichi for almost a week, and while he was now sporting an impressive collection of bruises from slipping during their daily runs, learning how to use a sword was turning out to be very different from what he expected.

"Sorry!" Daichi called out, biting his lip. He backed off after barely tapping Suga's arm.

"It's fine," Suga grit out, trying, and failing, to keep his voice calm. It'd been like this every single time he was hit, and even so his arm ached from holding the practice sword up. With the extra exhaustion from the sun, Suga was beginning to lose his patience. He could feel Daichi holding back and with every hit the gap between the two of them became more and more real in his mind.

Another swing of the practice sword, Suga braced himself for impact, but once again, all he felt was a light tap. Despite the avoided pain, Suga didn't feel any kind of relief. "Daichi, you have to hit me full on; I'm never going to get better if you keep babying me."

"I can't hit you full on; that's crazy," Daichi answered, irritation flooding his face, "I could kill you."

"So could any of the monsters," Suga replied.

"I know you want to get stronger but I can't just go all out on a beginner," Daichi said firmly.

Suga could feel his temper flaring and he glared at his boyfriend, trying his best to rein in all of the insults on the tip of his tongue. Deep down, he knew that Daichi was just trying to do what he thought was the right thing but…

"Yeah, Daichi, hit him hard," Kuroo jeered from the sidelines.

“Shut up, Kuroo,” he yelled back.

Daichi took another swing at Suga and Suga quickly lifted his sword to block it, hoping that getting Daichi riled up would help him to hit harder. Suga felt himself nearly boil with the hit ended up being just as soft as the ones before it. “Daichi!”

Daichi glared back at him, clearly fed up with the situation.

_Good, we’re finally going to get somewhere!_ Suga thought as he gave his boyfriend a defiant look.

“If you’re not going to let it go then there’s only one solution,” Daichi stated, straightening up out of his fighting stance. He crossed his arms and as he stood in front of him, Suga was reminded of why exactly Daichi had been chosen to be the leader of the samurai. He looked like a commander, ready to lay down the law.

It really shouldn’t have been as hot as it was.

“I think I know what you’re talking about,” Suga replied, trying to keep his voice from cracking.

“Find you a new teacher,” Daichi said just as Suga excitedly proclaimed, “Have angry sex.”

It was worth it for the look on Daichi’s face to immediate shift from powerful leader to red faced and embarrassed. Suga could feel himself becoming less frustrated as Daichi stood there, sputtering in front of him. Even Kuroo laughed from where he stood, lounging against the fence of the practice area and Suga couldn’t help but giggle a little.

“I didn’t…” Daichi said and Suga waited patiently for him to use his words. Daichi cleared his throat and tried again. “I really do think you need a different teacher.”

“Maybe a different weapon too,” said a voice from behind them. Daichi looked up and Suga turned to find a man with spiked grey hair standing next to Asahi. He had an oddly calculating look on his face and Suga wondered what exactly was going on in his mind. Truth be told, he didn’t know the samurai warriors very well, but he’d heard plenty of stories about their Ace.

Bokuto walked forward and circled Suga, looking him over. “Yeah, I don’t think a sword is the best plan for him, Captain. He’s got stick arms. Why’d you start him out on it anyway?”

“I didn’t want to,” Daichi replied, hand coming up to massage his forehead. Suga felt a twinge of guilt over causing his boyfriend so much stress, but he quickly pushed it down. Learning to fight was important.

“I picked it myself,” Suga explained, “Samurai’s use swords right? I want to be able to fight the way you guys do.”

Bokuto shook his head. “Maybe in the past we all used swords, but now we use whatever works best for us. Sure, the Captain’s got a sword, but I don’t, Kuroo doesn’t, Yachi doesn’t. We use what fits our strengths the best.” Bokuto walked over to Suga, pointing to his biceps. “See, you’ve got some skinny little arms and your body is a bit more wiry than Sawamura-san. I saw the way you were watching him though; I’ll bet you’ve got a killer eye. Maybe try something more like a short bow and a knife combo.”

Suga blushed a bit. That’s exactly what Daichi had said to him when he’d first insisted on learning the sword. He looked up to see an oddly calculating look on Daichi’s face and before he could call him out on it, his boyfriend spoke up.

“Suga, I still think it’d be better if you got another teacher,” Daichi said before he turned to Bokuto and said authoritatively, “Bo, since you’ve trained with beginners before I’d like you to work with him.”

Bokuto blinked at Daichi, surprise written all over his face before he broke out into a wide grin, “Sure, I’ll whip him into shape.” 

Suga swallowed hard at the intensity in the his eyes; what exactly had he gotten himself into?

\---

The training grounds took up most of the front courtyard of the samurai complex, a wide open space surrounded by tall brick buildings meant to be a central point in the compound to constantly remind the warriors to keep up with their training even after they became full fledged samurai.

Asahi hated the training grounds. They were right in the middle of everything, in plain sight of everyone in the compound. A reminder to train seemed like a flimsy excuse to Asahi; the real reason was probably something about showing off the samurai’s power to visiting officials. If he had his way, everyone would have their own smaller space to train, away from prying eyes and the judgement of others. 

Lucky for him, he’d found his own private training grounds in his first year of being an apprentice. Daichi had led him back behind the library to a small grove of trees and Asahi had felt his heart rate double. They’d just been kids, barely 11 years old, and he’d never been in the woods before. His brain kept coming up with the monsters that he’d learned about hiding in the ever lengthening shadows but Daichi had only laughed at him, no fear in his voice when he’d claimed that they could take down anything that came their way. It’d been before his magic had blossomed out of nowhere, before The Accident, before they’d had any reason to think otherwise, and Asahi had found himself nodding along; Daichi had always had a way of boosting his confidence.

Now he looked up at the leaves, dapping the sunlight as it shone through them, and breathed in, letting himself relax. No excitable police officers or Dream Doctors with eyes that seem to see directly into his soul to bother him here. He sighed and tried to push them from his thoughts, but just as in real life, one person kept coming back to the front of his mind. 

The moment he’d met Nishinoya he’d felt his face heat up in a way he’d never expected. He’d never thought much about relationships, but after a week he found himself daydreaming about silly little domestic things they could do together and just talking to him for a minute had left a small smile on Asahi’s face for the rest of the day. He’d known that Nishinoya had felt something similar; he’d said as much after nearly a month of small smiles and poorly executed attempts at subtle flirting. Asahi liked to think that maybe something could have blossomed out of it eventually, but all his daydreaming had been cut short one night when a gang of oni had attacked his patrol. Nishinoya had been on duty that night and he and his partner had rushed to the scene, arriving while the fighting was still going on. Asahi hadn’t even noticed. He was halfway through a swing of his massive two-handed sword when a shout from Kiyoko had caused him to pull back just enough to keep from cutting the smaller man in half along with the oni he’d been facing. Nishinoya had said it was fine, that he healed quickly, but he’d soon turned pale and Asahi had panicked at the sight of blood seeping out of the wound. He’d frozen, lost and unsure, too far in his mind to be of any help to anyone. It had been Kiyoko who had roughly shoved him aside and used as much magic as she could to keep Nishinoya alive until Yaku could get there. In the end it had taken an awful lot of magic to save him and the large scar that ran from Nishinoya’s right shoulder to his left hip would always be a reminder to Asahi of the dangers of his job.

He shuddered just thinking about it and suddenly the shadows cast by the grove didn’t seem as friendly as they had before. Asahi was about to leave, sighing at the negative way his thoughts had gone when he heard a small cough behind him and whirled around.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you,” Sugawara said with a small smile. “I was just looking for a place to relax for a minute and you looked so peaceful. I didn’t want to disturb you...” 

Asahi looked at the other man, the sunlight reflected on his odd grey hair, and felt himself slowly relax. Sugawara seemed like a nice person; Daichi was definitely smitten with him which spoke volumes in Asahi’s mind.

He cleared his throat and forced his body to relax. “It’s fine, I um… it’s fine,” he repeated lamely. “I just wasn’t really expecting anyone to come here so I was…” he trailed off to a mumble. He wasn’t entirely sure what he’d been planning to say, but Sugawara seemed to understand. He nodded and Asahi stuttered out, “You can... you can stay if you want. I was just leaving.”

Sugawara walked over to a tree and flopped onto the ground, back against the trunk as he let out a loud sigh. “Don’t go yet. I’d love to talk to someone who isn’t yelling me to get my arms up! Tighten my stance! Quit flirting while we fight!” He said it with the worst impression of Daichi that Asahi had ever seen; Sugawara’s chest puffed out and arms out to the side as he imitated a man with muscles. Asahi couldn’t help the little laugh that escaped his mouth and Sugawara’s face lit up. “Sit down, sit down! Talk to me; be my friend.”

Asahi blushed a little and carefully sat down next to him, trying hard not to take up too much space. “What did you want to talk about?”

Sugawara leaned back against the tree. “I don’t know. I just want to get out of my head a little. Tell me about yourself; your name’s Asahi, right?”

“Yes,” Asahi replied.

“So formal!” Sugawara moaned. “You don’t have to be like that with me. I think I’m lower rank than you honestly.”

“It’s… it’s not really that,” Asahi said, slowly loosening up. Sugawara spoke with his whole body, arms moving, hands flying up into the air or gesturing as he talked. It made him feel a little bit more at home. Nishinoya did the same thing when he talked and the thought made Asahi smile a little. “Daichi…”

“You’re the first one I’ve met that calls him that,” Sugawara said with a soft smile.

Asahi looked up at him, surprised. “I guess it’s just a bad habit. We were apprentices together.”

“I think it’s good,” Sugawara said, still smiling. “He needs more people to call him that. All this Captain stuff… I think it’s wearing on him.” He looked down at his hands, now settled in his lap. “I’m scared for him.”

Asahi didn’t say anything; he knew how Sugawara felt to an almost painful degree.They sat together in silence for a little while longer, Sugawara looking down while Asahi watched the leaves dance in the light breeze. It took him a while to think of what to say but once he got it, he knew he had to ask now or he’d lose his nerve.

“I think it’s okay to be scared.”

Sugawara looked at him, surprise etched into his features. After a minute he smiled, starting small and quickly growing. “You know, I think you're right.” He looked up at the sky and closed his eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath before he opening them back up and looked a Asahi again. “Well you never really did tell me much about yourself.”

Asahi was a little surprised that he’d brought it back up but he went along with the question anyway. ‘What do you want to know?”

“You said you and Daichi were apprentices together. What was that like?” Suga asked.

“You know how serious he is now? He was the opposite of that when we were kids,” Asahi said with a chuckle. 

Suga’s eyes went wide. “Do tell!”

“One time in our 2nd year he was grappling with Kuroo in the hallway, they used to really dislike each other, and they were so into it they had no idea that the Noble was coming down the hall, not Akaashi, an old man with this weird toupee, and…” 

Asahi didn’t get back to his room for another two hours but for a new friend, well it seemed worth it.

\---

If there was one good thing about the samurai, it was definitely their library. When he’d first started researching for the Dream Doctors, Kenma had had to hunt down books and sneak around to gain information. Now he stood on one of the rolling ladders, adding books to the stack on the step by his waist in the middle of the afternoon, sunlight streaming through the library windows. He was trying to dislike the samurai, but it was so hard to be upset with the ceiling to floor bookshelves surrounding him. He loved the quiet of the library, the sense of calm that settled over him while he was there. 

Kenma careful made his way down the ladder, briefly nodding to the librarian as she passed him, and carried the books he’d collected over to the table he’d claimed. It sat in the corner by a window with a view of the the forest behind the complex, situated away from the door and out of the way. The table already had a number of books on it, spread out and separated into different piles so that he had some sense of where everything was. Kenma took researching for the Dream Doctors very seriously; it was his friend’s lives on the line after all. No room to be sloppy. 

He settled in to work, eyes scanning the pages of every chapter he thought he’d need while he made notes in the notebook next to him. Kenma could go on like this for hours if he needed to, his mind worked without pause, never thinking about the passing time. He didn’t even notice the sun setting in the window behind him until a loud crash and some choice swears pulled him out of his work. Kenma looked up, blinking as his stomach growled and he realized it was already past dinner. He could still hear the cursing, now muffled, from a bookshelf over and after deciding he should probably stretch his legs anyway, Kenma got up to investigate.

Around the corner, a man was picking up books and shoving them onto a shelf; it looked like he’d knocked nearly an entire row of them down, and as Kenma squinted, trying to get his eyes to focus, he recognized the man who’d been so frustrated during his questioning.

_Kuroo,_ he thought remembering the name after a moment. He stood there for another second, debating whether or not to help. Eventually he sighed internally and made his way over to help pick up the books, reshelving them and fixing the ones Kuroo had put back himself. 

“Thanks for the help, man,” Kuroo said, back still to Kenma. “It’s been such a shitty day. This is like the icing on the shit cake.” 

Kenma didn’t respond, trying hard not to let Kuroo’s imagery get to him and concentrating on making sure all of the books were in the right place. It was a second before Kuroo turned around, the rest of the fallen books in his arms, and realized who had been helping him.

“Okay, you’re definitely not Kai,” he said, tone standoffish.

Kenma only shrugged and took a few of the books from his arms, putting them away and turning back to take a few more books from his arms, working until Kuroo only held a couple of books. The taller man was silent the entire time, watching Kenma work without moving himself until he shelved the last two books. “Thank you, I guess.”

“It’s not a problem,” Kenma said, voice quiet and as apathetic as he could possibly make it. “I needed a break anyway.” The mess had been cleaned up and he didn’t really want to stick around a man as mean as Kuroo anyway so he turned and walked back over to his table, deciding it was time to get back to work.

A moment later a shadow fell over his book and he looked up to see Kuroo looking over his shoulder. 

“Do you need something?” Kenma asked, trying hard to keep the irritation out of his voice.

“Are those the books you’ve already gone through?” Kuroo asked. 

Kenma nodded in response, trying hard to keep working regardless of the man standing just a little too close behind him.

“Have you taken a break at all?” Kuroo asked. 

Kenma only shrugged this time, trying in vain to focus on the words in front of him, hoping the other man would get bored and go away. Kuroo was distracting though. Even doing nothing but reading over Kenma’s shoulder, he was making his work difficult. Kenma had to reread one sentence three times before it finally stuck in his head and he could make notes on it.He silently cursed Kuroo while ignoring the more rational part of his brain telling him he couldn’t focus because he needed to go get some food and maybe sleep. 

After a minute Kenma sighed and without looking at Kuroo, asked, “Do you need to use this book or something? I’m nearly done with it.” A lie but if it got Kuroo to go away then he could part with the book for a day or two.

“Just trying to figure out what exactly you’re researching,” Kuroo replied, but he sounded distracted. Kenma looked up, momentarily surprised by how close Kuroo actually was, and saw that the tall samurai’s eyes were scanning his books and his mouth was slightly open as he focused on the books.

_He’s kind of cute like this,_ Kenma thought before he quickly shut down that train of thought, slamming close the book. 

Kuroo jumped a little, startled into backing away from him. He looked at Kenma in surprised and Kenma looked away mumbling, “I think I’m going to take a break after all. See you later.”

He brushed past Kuroo, still refusing to make eye contact and made it out of the library and down the hall when he realized that he had no idea where he was going. He hadn’t paid the a lot of attention when he was brought here, Inouka had been excitedly chattering away and Kenma may have tuned him out, and besides, everything looked different in the dark. Kenma reached into his pocket, fiddling with his phone, wondering if he should call Suga, before he remembered that Suga was probably off with Sawamura. His mood soured and Kenma considered just wandering around until he found someone who could give him directions. He let out a deep sigh, feeling sadness swell in his chest, when a voice behind him caused him to turn around quickly.

“Lost?” Kuroo asked, hands in his pockets, casually standing there; the very picture of calm. 

Kenma considered lying but in the end he only shrugged. Kuroo smiled and oddly enough it looked pretty genuine to Kenma. His eyes immediately narrowed and Kenma had to resist taking a step back. He’d seen the way this man had talked to Suga, to him. There was no way he was just being nice. 

Kuroo seemed to realize that Kenma was wary and his smiled slipped. “Look, I get it, I’ve got beef with your friend, yeah, but Akaashi seems to think that your research could really help us so if you need anything, ask me. I want to win this war, no matter what it takes.”

Kuroo’s voice seemed sincere and he really seemed like he was passionate about winning the battle against whatever was out there. Kenma only thought for a moment before he gave him a small nod and said, “The first thing I need help with is finding the dining hall. Can you maybe…” His voice trailed off but Kuroo seemed to understand, his smile coming back and he turned to face the other direction, head turned back to look at Kenma.

“Follow me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im finally sort of back! anyway, let me know what you think:
> 
> bicyclestandard.tumblr.com


	13. In Which Everyone Gets Slightly Wrecked

Bokuto does not like hospitals. Hospitals are too white, too clean, too uncomfortable for him. Bokuto walked down the hall, trying his best not to think too hard about where his is, focusing as best as he can on the fact that Yachi is here and that he needs to see her. It’s been over two weeks and she still hadn’t woken up but this is the first time he’s been allowed out of bed rest and away from the training grounds for long enough to go see her.

Training the new recruits and the Dream Doctors wasn’t a bad job, he actually really enjoyed it, but it took up so much of his time and kept Yaku hollering at him to take it easy. They were fast learners though and Bokuto was having a good time figuring out everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. Some of them were pretty exceptional talents too and were much more fun to teach than he’d been expecting, but none of them were Yachi. She was his pride and joy and guilt churned around in his stomach when he thought about the fact that he hadn’t gone to see her before now.

He made the last turn down the corridor and nearly ran into Kuroo. His best friend was coming out of Yachi’s room and the weak smile on his his face said answered everything Bokuto hadn’t asked. He nodded to the other samurai quickly before walking past him and into the room. 

They’d given her a nice room. A beautiful view of the training grounds and the trees surrounding it, with tasteful art on the walls, and he could see a vase of sunflowers sitting beside her bed and briefly wondered if Kuroo had brought them or if someone else had. Before he could think too much about other people going to see _his_ apprentice before he did, Bokuto pulled over a chair so he could sit down next to Yachi’s bed.

“The flowers are nice. So’s the view. Hell, the whole room is nice. You’d uh, you’d love it.” He sighed and looked down at his hands. “Things have been kind of rough this past week. Akaashi came to visit me while I was in the hospital but now... Now he’s avoiding me. I don’t even know why, I want to ask him but… anyway, Kuroo has been having a really hard time too. Having Suga here, oh, that’s the Captain’s boyfriend, I think you’ll like him, but it’s been tough for Kuroo. You know how he looks at the Captain. I feel bad for him and I want to help but I’m not really sure what I could do. I never really know what to do. Except in a fight, I guess. If you were awake you’d know. You’re so good with people, everyone loves you.”

He pulled in another breath, feeling his eyes start to water and his throat close up. “I miss you so much. So, so much. Please wake up. You were so much more than my student Yach. Wake up. Please. Please.”

But no matter how much he begged there was no response from his apprentice. After nearly an hour Bokuto left the hospital, heading to the weight room where his red eyes and face could be mistaken for overexertion.

\---

“Could you still read this book if it was upside down? Holy shit I can’t believe you’re still taking notes on it. That’s pretty cool Kenma!” 

Kenma resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead just grabbing the book back from Kuroo and flipping right side up again. There no use in telling Kuroo that he’d already read the page and was taking notes from memory rather than directly from the book; it wouldn’t make him go away or quiet down. For the past few weeks the samurai had been spending most of his days bothering Kenma in the library.

Despite his loud and rather annoying shadow, Kenma had made a lot of progress. The samurai library was absolutely incredible, filled to the brim with books about the supernatural. He’d learned so much about not only the kitsune and nue, but he’d mixed in reading books about the samurai and their history, researching the difference in their magic and the Dream Doctors magic. He jotted down another quick sentence about the draw of the samurai’s magic, but was distracted when he heard a book hit the floor. Kenma looked up to see Kuroo staring at him and Kenma was struck with a sudden pang of annoyance.

“If you’re bored, just leave,” he said looking back down at his notebook. Kuroo let out a heavy sigh and Kenma’s eye twitched. “Go bother someone else.”

Kuroo slid forward, arms stretched out over the table and sighed loudly. “There’s no one else to hang out with,” he said, clearly sulking.

Kenma gave in and rolled his eyes.

“It’s true,” Kuroo said, voice moving back into a his normal, slightly deadpan tone. “Daichi’s off trying to run the samurai, Bo’s teaching, Asahi runs away every time I talk to him, Noya and Tanaka are training… plus, you need the company.”

“Shouldn’t you be trying to help?” Kenma asked, turning the page delicately, treating the old book with care.

Kuroo shrugged. “Technically I am helping. Someone does have to keep an eye on you, remember.”

Kenma frowned a little; he’d forgotten that he was meant to be accompanied by a guard at all times. Kuroo was looking at him with those half-lidded eyes and Kenma felt himself grow uncomfortable. Time to change the subject. 

“You don’t seem to hate Suga as much,” he said, trying to seem nonchalant. 

Kuroo shrugged again. “It’s tiring, I guess.” 

Kenma stayed quiet, eyes scanning the page without really taking anything in, waiting for Kuroo to go on. Kuroo sat up a little straighter, and Kenma noticed that he does look tired. There were dark circles under his eyes that weren’t there when a couple of weeks ago and his clothes looked wrinkled and worn over his hunched shoulders.

“This stuff is all kind of wearing on me,” Kurro said after a moment, “I’m a senior samurai, I should be going through all of this just as strong and tall as everyone else. Hell, I should be feeling better than the rest of them. I don’t have any real responsibilities; I don’t have an apprentice or even really a partner right now. Daichi’s off trying to keep everything from crashing down around our heads but fuck, he doesn’t really know what he’s doing, none of us do. We’re going into this so blind, so unprepared.”

Kenma listened, unsure of how to reassure the other man; finally settling on tentatively placing his hand on Kuroo’s back, rubbing small circles into his shoulder. 

Kuroo sent him a little smile but looked back down at his hands, on the table. 

“Bo’s not back to 100%. I don’t think he’ll ever get there unless Yachi wakes up. I… I’ve been going to see her a few times week but… Well, she’s still not waking up and you wouldn’t believe who I saw there yesterday. Those sneaky little kitsune fucks were arguing outside her door, bugging the nurse.” 

Kenma looked back down at the book. He felt like he was so close to learning something important, but Kuroo was raging about the kitsune. 

“Apparently their boss is coming to town? Something about how this is taking us too long, but what do they really expect? We can’t just bounce back in seconds, we’re not machines.” Kuroo’s voice was slowly getting louder and his hands were expanding away from his chest with every word he said. Kenma carefully pulled away to give Kuroo room to talk and once he realized that the other man wasn’t really looking for anything other than someone to listen, Kenma looked back down at the book in front of him, trying to tune out Kuroo’s ranting.

It took nearly half an hour, but when Kuroo finally calmed down Kenma had gotten through a full chapter of the old book and Kuroo seemed happier than he had been in weeks. The two of them left the library soon after and Kenma couldn’t help the little smile on his face.

\---

“It’s a nice apartment,” Suga said as he looked around. He wasn’t lying, but the apartment isn’t what he expected at all. The common areas are spotless and decorated in a bunch of coordinating colors and patterns, much nicer than Suga would have thought but that wasn’t the biggest surprise that Daichi’s apartment had to offer. 

“If I’d known you were coming over I’d have…” Daichi trailed off and Suga snorted.

“Cleared a path?” He joked, loving the blush that tinged Daichi’s cheeks and the tips of his ears. The samurai captain’s bedroom was a disaster zone. Clothes littered the floor, his desk was covered in papers and reports, and his sheets were twisted and bunched together on his bed. Suga stood in the hall to take it all in. “How does someone so neat and organized with their life live in a room that looks like this?”

Daichi grimaced from beside him, leaning a shoulder against the wall. “I don’t spend a lot of time at home. Well, not a lot of time awake I guess.”

“The living room and kitchen-” Suga began but Daichi cut him off. 

“Kuroo cleans them when I’m not home.”

“Wow,” Suga said.

“I didn’t actually want you to see this,” Daichi said, looking away from him. Suga only smiled and stepped up to him, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. 

“I’m glad you did let me though,” he replied, leaning in to press a kiss to Daichi’s cheek.

“You are?”

“Mhmmm,” Suga answered, nuzzling into his neck. He could tell that Daichi was going to ask more questions and how was he supposed to explain that Daichi having flaws was amazing to him, made his boyfriend seem more real, so instead Suga took the opportunity to begin leaving big open mouthed kisses against his neck. 

“This is nice,” Daichi said, a smile in his voice. Suga smiled too, right before he scraped his teeth across a patch of Daichi’s neck. He heard a sharp intake of breath and sucked a little on the spot, for good measure, of course. It was so rare for the two of them to actually have time to be alone that Suga ran through a mental list to make sure they weren’t forgetting something, letting his hands wander down to the hem of Daichi’s shirt in the meantime.

Suga felt Daichi’s fingers thread themselves through his hair and he slipped his hands underneath his shirt in retailization, nails scraping against the muscle there. Ah, the perks to having a fighter for a boyfriend.

Daichi tugged on the ends of his hair and Suga let out an accidental moan, tilting his face up at Daichi’s urging. Any noise threatening to slip out of his mouth were quickly swallowed up by heavy, wet kisses that went straight to his dick. He slid his hand down from Daichi’s stomach to palm to bulge in his pants, pressing against him as his hips pushed up into Suga’s hand.

“So, ah, want to move this party into my room?” Daichi panted against his mouth. Suga felt his dick twitch at the sound of Daichi’s voice and didn’t bother answering. He pressed himself flush against Daichi’s body, grinding his hips into the other man’s and got a breathy laugh in response. Suga smiled to himself before pushing away to slide himself down Daichi’s body, slowly, carefully, struck with the urge to hear more of Daichi’s voice.

It only took a minute for him to undo his boyfriend’s zipper, and Suga pulled his pants down, exposing Daichi’s boxers. The tent in his underwear was right in front of him and before Daichi could say a word, Suga pressed his lips against the outline of Daichi’s dick, mouthing it through the fabric. He heard Daichi, groan above him and Suga felt his dick twitch. He reached up and pulled down Daichi’s underwear, revealing his cock, red and dripping from the tip.

“Suga,” Daichi groaned as the other man licked a stripe up the underside of his cock. Suga smiled and leaned forward to suck just the tip into his mouth, tonguing the slit. He felt hands come down and fist into his hair, felt Daichi’s hips shaking with the urge not to fuck into his mouth as he began to bob his head up and down, sucking in more and more of Daichi’s dick each time. 

He could feel his own dick straining in his pants and the noises Daichi was making had him so turned on he could barely stand it. He pulled his hands away from Daichi's hips to cup his ass, urging him forward. Daichi sucked in a breath and slowly rocked his hips forward, his hands still in Suga’s hair keeping his head still as he fucked into the other man’s mouth. Suga focused on keeping himself from choking, letting Daichi push himself in and out of Suga’s mouth. He reached a hand down, fumbling with his pants button as he felt Daichi’s hands tighten in his hair, pulling on it in the best way possible. The button came open and Suga palmed his cock through his underwear, moaning around Daichi’s dick.

“Shit, Suga, I’m so close,” Daichi grunted, hips moving faster. 

Suga encouraged it, the hand not on his cock coming up to fondle Daichi’s balls, rolling them gently in his hand. He kept his throat as relaxed as he could manage and it paid off; it only took another minute before Daichi was cumming into his mouth and down his throat. Suga did his best to swallow as much of it as he could, hand working himself furiously until he found his own release a moment later. 

Daichi pulled out of his mouth, panting, and reached an arm down to help Suga up, pulling him to his chest. Suga let himself be held, breathing for a moment before he turned a smooshed his face against Daichi’s chest, rubbing his hand on his shirt.

“What are you- Suga!” Daichi exclaimed when he realized what his boyfriend was doing. Suga threw back his head and laughed, loud and happy, still cocooned in Daichi’s arms.

“It’ll come out in the wash,” he said, still smiling.

“Better get in quick before the stain sets,” said a voice and both Daichi and Suga turned around to see Kuroo walk out of the kitchen, steaming mug in hand. He gave them both a once over and a smirk before disappearing down the hall.

Daichi tensed up but Suga just kept laughing.

“What is wrong with you?” Daichi asked, words missing their bite and a fond smile on his face.

“Nothing,” Suga replied giddily, “I just think Kuroo’s finally starting to warm up to me.”

\---

“This patrol is stacked,” Bokuto said with a low whistle to emphasize just what he meant. Kiyoko ignored him, checking her bow, but Kuroo laughed out loud and Yui smiled a little while Asahi chuckled nervously under his breath. He’d been watching Bokuto all night, especially after Daichi had pulled him aside and asked him to keep an eye on him. It was Bokuto’s first patrol back since the battle and it seemed like the samurai were pulling out all the stops to make sure the patrol went smoothly. Honestly, the only person they were missing was Daichi himself. 

Kiyoko got a nod from each member of the party before she started out of the compound. She kept a pretty quick pace and Asahi was glad he had such long legs. They had a lot of ground to cover that night; they were the only patrol being sent out. Normally it would be absolutely ridiculous to ask one patrol to cover the entire city but since they had Yui with them it wasn’t as insane of a task. Asahi looked behind him to see the mage holding a glowing blue sphere over her palm as she hurried just behind him, letting Bokuto and Kuroo bring up the rear. Yui had set up a spell that was supposed to tell them where monsters were within a certain radius and even though Asahi knew that she was the most talented magic user in his generation, he couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if she suddenly ran out of magic or if she got separated from them; it was a difficult spell after all.

He must have been looking at her worriedly because a moment later Yui looked up at him and smiled. “Don’t worry, Asahi. Kuroo’s feeding me the captain’s magic. I could keep up a spell like this for the next six years with this stuff.” He nodded, trying to stay serious, as the patrol kept moving.

They made it through nearly the entire route without a problem and Asahi began to let himself relax a little, or at least try to, but he couldn’t help his nerves. Kuroo and Bokuto were joking around in the back, while Yui was talking to Kiyoko in hushed tones up front. Asahi didn’t want to say anything, especially not to the vice captain, or the ace, or the captain’s partner, or- well, suffice to say, he felt like it wasn’t really his place to say anything. Technically he was outranked by every member of their patrol.

Kuroo was in the middle of telling Bokuto a story that had the other man howling with laughter when the glowing orb in Yui’s palm suddenly flickered and went out, steady light disappearing. Almost immediately Kuroo and Bokuto went silent and Asahi felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“Yui, what happened to your spell?” Kiyoko asked calmly, motioning for the patrol to come to a stop.

“Something’s wrong,” Yui said, face scrunching up in confusion. The others moved to surround her as she tried to work the spell again. “I’m not sure why the spell won’t work. It should have let us know if there were any monsters nearby.”

“Maybe it’s not a monster,” Kuroo said quietly. Asahi’s eyes darted this way and that, scanning the darkness for some sign of movement.

“Then what could it be…” Yui whispered, more to herself than to any of them. 

Everything was quiet for a moment and it felt like the earth had stopped spinning. Asahi held his breath, holding perfectly still, until someone stepped out of the darkness, not twenty feet from them. 

There was a quick flurry of movement and the samurai had formed a loose diamond around Yui, weapons drawn. Asahi felt his heart racing as he stood clutching the handle of his broadsword; this stranger was a complete unknown. Not a monster, or Yui’s spell would have caught them, but sneaking around in the dark, messing with the spell… well, that didn’t exactly spell out friend either. The figure was silent and unmoving and Asahi found himself getting more and more anxious about what was happening. He wanted something to happen, find out the truth so he could know how to feel about all of this. The uncertainty was pushing his senses into overdrive and he was glad when Kiyoko broke the silence.

“Who are you?” she demanded, bow unwavering. The figure didn’t reply, only took a ambling step forward. Beside him, Asahi heard Yui and Kuroo suck in a breath at the same time.

“Yui, pull out of the spell,” Kuroo commanded, voice quiet but deadly serious. Yui nodded, hands immediately going for the gun at her waist. Asahi’s eyes widened at the sight; that gun was Yui’s last resort, for when her magic was too low for her to fight as she did normally. 

“I’ll only ask one more time,” Kiyoko said, voice calm. “Who are you?” 

The figure still didn’t answer but it took another step towards them, bringing it into the light of the street lamps lining the streets. Asahi took an involuntary step back at the sight of it’s face, mottled purple and green covering half of it’s skin, almost like a bruise or scales. 

“Kiyoko…” Bokuto warned from the back of their formation. A quick look around showed Asahi that there were at least three more of whatever was in front of them approaching from the rear. Asahi stood waiting for a signal, waiting for anything really, while Kiyoko took a quick glance behind them. She turned back to the figure in front of her.

“Kuroo? Yui?” She asked, question clear. 

“We should run,” Kuroo answered immediately. Asahi silently agreed. They knew absolutely nothing about whatever these things were other than the fact that for some reason they didn’t qualify as monsters.

“I’m not sure we can,” Yui said, eyeing the creatures surrounding them. A few more seemed to have come out of the woodwork and Bokuto was bouncing on his heels, waiting for their orders. Asahi couldn’t believe he wasn’t scared after what had happened the last time they’d-

“We fight!” Kiyoko’s voice rang out as she loosed an arrow straight into the heart of the creature in front of her. Bokuto shouted as he fired his shotgun into the nearest creature and that was all Asahi could see of the others as he moved to meet the next closest creature head on. 

It wasn’t carrying any weapons that he could see and he rushed into a broadside attack, using the long reach of his sword to strike while staying out of range. The creature seemed to be moving fairly slowly and the edge of the sword sliced through the muscle of the thing’s shoulder and through its chest. He felt a small burst of satisfaction, turning to the next creature with a diagonal strike from the opposite direction and braced himself for the impact of his sword biting into the creature’s neck. 

Asahi could hear Bokuto firing off rounds from somewhere behind him, but otherwise the fight was strangely silent. He turned for just a moment and realized that more and more of the strange creatures were pouring into the street, moving faster than the first few had been. For a second panic rose up into his throat at the sight of the crowd but he did his best to force it down. The creatures weren’t particularly fast or smart or strong; he just had to outlast them. With that thought, he returned to his task, slashing and hacking though more creatures than he could count, blocking out any extra thoughts that tried to distract him. The world came down to him and his sword, and he felt more at peace than he had in what felt like years. Muscle memory took over and his arms became machines; he didn’t have to think, his body knew what needed to be done. 

“Asahi.”

He didn’t know how long he kept it up or even how long he would need to but he’d pushed any extra thoughts out of his mind, hacking at the enemies around him. 

“Asahi!”

The carnage at his feet was piling up but he ignored it, too deep to think about what the bodies on the ground could do to him until it was too late and he stumbled, automatically throwing his hands out for balance. The hilt of his sword smashed into his palm and he came back to himself, panting, with sweat dripping down his face. His hand throbbed and he winced as he tried to close his fingers around his sword hilt. 

“Asahi,” Kiyoko had knelt next to him, still a couple of feet away and Asahi felt himself pale at the concern on her face.

“Kiyoko, what…” He croaked out, voice hoarse though he had no idea why. She didn’t answer for a moment and he looked around to see the other samurai standing around him, weapons still in hand.

Weapons that were still at the ready. Weapons that were pointed at him.

“It happened again?” Asahi asked Kiyoko quietly. 

“No one’s hurt,” she replied. Because of you this time was the silent addition. Even from the ground he could see that Bokuto was looking pale and had a nasty looking bite on his arm and Kuroo was holding a bandage to a large gash on Yui’s forehead. 

The last of the adrenaline left his body and Asahi slumped down, feeling tears collecting in his eyes. His eyes slipped closed and he felt a crushing weight eclipse his body. 

“It’s alright; I know what to do. Just rest,” Kiyoko said before he gave up trying to remain conscious and slipped into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i am sort of back to being my normal human disaster self. enjoy chapter 13
> 
> chat w me: bicyclestandard.tumblr.com


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